Ben Sollee

Singer-songwriter, topical/political music, contemporary folk

Ben Sollee has been known to collaborate with some of the finest artists in the folk music world. He spent some time on the road with the Sparrow Quartet (in addition to his cello, the group boasted Abigail Washburn and Bela Fleck on banjos, and Casey Driessen on fiddle). He made an album aimed at raising awareness about mountaintop removal with SubPop singer-songwriter Daniel Martin Moore, and would likely be of interest to fans of each of these artists. Considering his innovative approach to the cello, Sollee's music would also likely be of interest to fans of Ani DiFranco and Martin Sexton (both guitar innovators with considerable audiences), as well as fans of Dave Matthews, Ben Harper, and others adept at fusing folk tradition with modern rhythms.

Learning to Bend (RED Distribution, 2008) compare prices

Inclusions (Thirty Tigers, 2011) compare prices

Dear Companion with Daniel Martin Moore (SubPop, 2010) compare prices

"Prettiest Tree on the Mountain" (from Learning to Bend)
"Only a Song" (from Dear Companion, with Daniel Martin Moore)
"Close to You" (from Inclusions)

Ben Sollee was born in 1983 and raised in Lexington, Kentucky. He started studying music as a young boy, picking up cello in elementary school and quickly making it his primary focus. Naturally, as a young cellist, Sollee focused on classical music although he also developed a natural affinity for blues and jazz-pop artists like Ray Charles and Billie Holiday. It wasn't until much later that he discovered a love - and, no doubt - a gift for interpreting American folk music.

In 2005, he joined with budding banjo star Abigail Washburn to form the Sparrow Quartet - a foursome of outside-the-box folk music innovators which also included banjo master Bela Fleck and fiddler Casey Driessen. Together, they traveled the world and released an album titled Abigail Washburn and the Sparrow Quartet even as Sollee was working on his debut EP and full-length album (If You're Gonna Lead My Country and Learning to Bend, respectively.

From the beginning, Sollee has displayed a knack for blending all his disparate influences and interests into music which is soulful, thoughtful, and creative. He often plays the cello in a manner similar to guitar or banjo-picking, frequently sawing against it like a fiddler, and now and then bowing it like the classical instrument on which he began his musical journey. He is a great advocate for ending mountaintop removal - the dangerous coal mining practice which involves literally blowing off the tops and sides of mountains to get the coal out from the top down. Indeed, Sollee joined together with SubPop singer-songwriter Daniel Martin Moore to make an album titled Dear Companion, aimed at raising awareness to try to stop mountaintop removal in his homestate of Kentucky and throughout the Appalachian region.

From his collaborative efforts with the Sparrow Quartet and Moore, as well as his various solo efforts, Sollee has amassed a sizable cult following and earned the praise of other artists and critics alike. NPR's Morning Edition named him one of 2007's Top Ten Unknown Artists of the Year. He's released seven albums in all (including his collaborations with Moore and Washburn) and has a new disc - Half Made Man - due for a September 2012 release.

In addition to his activism regarding mountaintop removal, Sollee is active with Oxfam America and frequently conducts his tours by bicycle. In 2009, he traveled more than 300 miles on bicycle, with his cello strapped to the side, to make it to the Bonnaroo Music Festival in Tennessee. The trip was to raise awareness for Oxfam's mission: "working together to end poverty and injustice."