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BEN BEDFORD in concert

Unitarian Church - North
Mequon, WI

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For those who think that folk music is dead, or a genre inhabited solely by contemporaries of Bob Dylan and Joan Baez, with a dozen "albums" under their belts, an evening with Ben Bedford may come as a shock. Starting life out in Springfield, Illinois, it's little wonder that his music is rooted in the "heart"land of America and, as one critic observed, when he sings "it sounds like his heart is in his breath." Ben is young in years but wise in perception and blessed with an "old soul" quality that draws listeners deep into lives and legends as diverse as a Confederate soldier's wife, Amelia Earhart, Jack London and a sweet-faced Emmett Till, murdered in Mississippi at the age of fourteen. In the five years since the release of Land of the Shadows, his first of just three albums to date, Ben has criss-crossed the continent many times, hitting notable venues like The Bluebird Café in Nashville, Folkstage in Chicago, and Arkansas's Fayetteville Roots Festival. Fans as far afield as Stockholm, London and the Netherlands have come to admire his blend of historical truth with the truth of mystery. And most everyone would concede that, as good as his music is on first discovery, it gets better the more you listen to it. With a killer voice, evocative lyrics, and a deep concern for justice and humanity, this self-confessed "American Portrait Song writer" not only deserves his rank as "one of the most promising storytelling songwriters of his generation," but assures us old folkies that folk music is neither dead nor dying, as another critic observed, "...only catching its breath."