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Biography
Benjamin Scott Folds (born September 12, 1966, in Winston-Salem, North Carolina) is an American singer-songwriter. He is widely known for his prowess as a pianist. Ben Folds' musical career started to get off the ground in the late '80s, as bassist for band Majosha, after playing bass and piano at Pinehurst, in a group known as the "Caroliners" with cohort Millard Powers in 1985-1987; he also played drums as a session musician in Nashville. As well as appearing in Pots & Pans - now known as the Snuzz demo, as a pianist in Britt Harper Uzzell's (aka Snuzz) band. Folds is best known for his later work as the frontman and pianist of Ben Folds Five and as a solo artist. Folds's compositional and playing technique remain wholly unique, combining elements of the typical 'singer/songwriter' genre, jazz, and power rock. Indeed, his music is evocative of artists such as Joe Jackson, Todd Rundgren, and Sir Elton John, with an added edge and bold infusion of energy and wit. Although his music has no distinctive genre with which it is associated, the terms piano rock and indie are often used to describe his unique style. It is worth noting that popular, piano-centric artists such as trio-based Keane and solo artist Matt Hales, a.k.a. Aqualung, began their rise to popularity after Ben Folds' three-member band, Ben Folds Five, broke up in 2000. The other two members of Ben Folds Five were Robert Sledge (bass) and Darren Jessee (drums).
As of fall 2006, Ben Folds has released five solo LPs. His first album, Fear of Pop: Volume 1, an album of spoken word and instrumental compositions, was recorded and released while Ben Folds Five was still together. Since it was an uncharacteristic release, and officially released under the moniker of 'Fear of Pop', it is widely considered that his first "proper" solo album was Rockin' the Suburbs (2001), on which he played all the instruments by himself. A year later, in 2002, he released Ben Folds Live, a collection of live solo recordings. In late 2003, two solo EPs, Speed Graphic and Sunny 16, were released, with a third entitled Super D released in mid-2004. In 2005, Folds released a second studio album called Songs for Silverman. Most recently Folds has released the album "Supersunnyspeedgraphic, the lp" a compliation of his EPs, a The Bens track called "Bruised," "Still" from the motion picture of 2006 "Over the Hedge" for which Folds wrote all the songs, his cover of the Dr. Dre song "Bitches Ain't Shit", and, with the kind permission of his good friend Neil Hannon, a cover of The Divine Comedy song "Songs of Love". "Supersunnyspeedgraphic, the lp" otherwise includes remastered takes from the three internet EPs from 2002-2004. Ben claims that he wanted to have the CD in hard format so he could "put it past him."
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