BIOGRAPHY
Ben has been a musician since the age of five and began writing music by the time he was ten. He took lessons in bagpipe chanter, piano, guitar, vocals, and stand-up jazz bass . While at Wasilla High, with his sister and friends, Ben formed a no-named group performing at talent shows and for school events. Later he played and recorded with The Drunk Poets out of Palmer. He recorded with the Poets on the album Preambulations and Such, playing bass and guitar on two separate tracks. Later, while attending Earlham College, he started the group, Shriek. After almost two years in college, Ben decided that school wasn’t for him, so he began jamming with friends in Seattle before landing back in Alaska. With guitarist Mike Fleck, he formed Fleck’s Frenzy, a short-but-intensely-lived band that gigged around Anchorage ,Alaska at places like the Java Joint and Gigs.
Later Ben it moved to the Netherlands to live with former ex-Drunk Poets musician, MIchael Rusteck. He formed the group, Billy Goat’s Gruff and toured around the Netherlands and Belgium.
Visa issues forced a retreat to the States. After a short stay in Alaska, Ben moved to Vermont, focusing more on writing songs for piano. With guitar in hand, he busked the streets there for five years to make sure his dues were being paid.
Returning to Alaska in 2011, Ben composed and recorded his first professional solo album, “Comin’ Home to You with Toilet Paper on My Shoe”. Yes, there is off-hand humor in a few of his songs. In 2013 he formed the band, The Acoustic Oosik with a variety of side musicians and they’ve appeared all over the state including three Iditarod Finishes in Nome during the 2014 , 2015, 2016, 2017 & 2019 Iditarod.
Ben has recorded two cd's since “The Boat of My Imagination” and "Twenty Thousand Day Dreams Under the Sea". Your sonic palate might detect flavors of Tom Waits, Bob Dylan and John Prine blended with Mark Knopfler, Paul Westerberg (the Replacements), and Police-era Sting. You’ll also be able to perceive hints of the Beatles, and the occasional pinch of Ravi Shankar.
Ben has recently completed his fourth cd , titled "Wait for No One" which is out on Spotify, Apple Music and Amazon Music now
