Ben Smith- Denton, TX - Vocals, Guitar, Harmonica
Ben's story begins in the seat of a Massey-Ferguson 282 tractor in the bottomlands of the Red River Valley. One day, at the age of sixteen, he had a farming accident where the tractor flipped over onto a barbed wire fence, and Ben got pinned underneath 6,000 lbs of metal. Miraculously, he walked away that day with only a few scratches and a bruised tailbone.
The next morning, Ben's breakfast tasted better than anything he'd ever tasted. When he went to church with his family, the pastor began with, "Let us ask forgiveness for our sins," but all Ben could think was, "Let's thank God that we're alive!"
Two years later, Ben discovered a way to keep that kind of excitement alive as the chords of a guitar pressed to his chest seemed to resonate through his bones. Around the same time, he discovered his singing voice while driving long miles in his radio-less pick-up truck.
With one parent an English teacher and the other an Art teacher, Ben inherited a gift for creative writing, and excelled at it in school. As soon as he had learned his first three chords on guitar, it was only natural for him to start putting his own lyrics to the melodies he was creating.
Over the next few years, Ben honed his skills performing in college bars, campus events, and other venues while earning his Forestry degree at Texas A&M University, where he also ran track. Since then, Ben's musical journey has had its highs and lows, but is always an ongoing adventure. Ben has released several independent albums, performed at an endless list of venues around Texas and all over the United States, as well as open shows for artists such as John Anderson, Mark Chesnutt, Pat Green, Jack Ingram, Sean McConnell, and Bobby Long. He also was invited to perform at 2010 Steamboat MusicFest in Steamboat, CO, which is considered a milestone and right of passage in the Texas and Americana Music Scene. In 2011, he was invited to an audition, made the top 10, and cast as a contestant in the TV show, CMT's Next Superstar, in which gave Ben national TV exposure on Country Music Television that Spring.
In the hot Texas Summers Ben has been known to just throw some camping gear, mountain bike, guitar, amp, and band merchandise in his truck, take off to the cool Rocky Mountains, and find mountain town bars and pubs in which to perform for fun-seeking tourists. Such excursions have taken him all over the United States.
Put plainly, Ben is not a normal guy, and does not do normal things. While still in high school, Ben began building an actual log cabin from scratch on his dad’s land, and now enjoys it as a hunting and songwriting get-away. Some think that’s cool. Others might say weird. Ben wears either label with pride, and more or less lives by his own mantra, “I’m Ben Frickin’ Smith and I do what I want.” This attitude is illustrated best in the lyric’s to one of his songs, “Rearview,”:
Some people say I don’t fit in good I’d say I must agree with them
I wasn’t born to be just another fool sitting in a traffic jam
Working overtime beneath a dirty sky to make another man richer than me
And getting pulled around by a bunch of clowns selling crap that I don’t need
“People often wish me ‘success in the music business’ and similar things. That’s a nice gesture, but I want people to know that to me, this isn’t about fame, being on the radio, or having everyone know my name. It’s about doing just exactly what I love and living in a free and independent way, and I’m already doing that. I feel blessed to be doing that, as anyone should, and I’m already a success in my own eyes. So when people wish me luck, success, and that they hope to hear me on the radio someday and such things, I usually just smile and say. ‘Thanks. I’m having fun.’”
Currently, Ben is working on his next album, set for release in 2012.