Ben Wakeman has a natural way about him - a confidence and ease that is both disarming and engaging to audiences from all walks of life. He fills a room with his warm salt-honey voice, sharp wit and crafty guitar work, taking you with him on every song he delivers. The songs, though rooted in the tradition of artists like James Taylor, and John Gorka are uniquely his own, ranging from whispery melancholy ballads to lean, infectious pop tunes and alt-country rockers.
His comfortable ease and independence is largely due to the fact that Ben has chosen his own path, ignoring the music industry machine in favor of making a good and sustainable life for himself and his family. In the long shadow cast by his love for music, Ben has nurtured a successful career as a web application developer and designer often logging long days in a tangle of code before heading into the studio to lay down guitar tracks for a new song. This balance between work and family has grounded Ben, kept him honest and keenly focused his craft for writing songs that get to the heart of what it means to live in these complicated times.
Ben celebrates the release of his fifth independent CD, "I'm Just the Same as I Was" in Spring of 2010. This new collection of songs is wonderfully diverse and beautifully arranged. From the opening anthem rocker "Unamerican" to the the whispery ballad "You Are" and it's beautiful string arrangement that close the album, Ben delivers something that is as comfortable and classic as a Jackson Browne record and as moody and mysterious as some of Suzanne Vega's best work.
Over the years Ben has shared the stage and/or collaborated with the likes of John Mayer, Gillian Welch, Kristian Bush and Jennifer Nettles of Sugarland. His passion for songwriting can be witnessed in his regular podcast Take Me to the Bridge (http://takemetothebridge.net) where he talks with great songwriters about the craft.
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