Ben Rector
With song placements on everything from ESPN SportsCenter to Pretty Little Liars, it’s no wonder that Ben Rector’s latest album hit #4 overall on the iTunes charts and #1 on the singer/songwriter chart. Now on tour with NeedToBreathe, Ben and I chatted about the tour, his album, and how you can talk to him! Check out tour dates below and make sure to grab a ticket before you miss the show.
Arin: What is your favorite part about being out on tour?
Ben: When you’re out on tour the people that you’re around kind of become family and you have a great time together and you sometimes get frustrated with each other, but at the end of the day you share really unique experiences with fun people so I think that’s my favorite thing about it.
A: Your latest album came out towards the middle/end of last year, so what has it been like to see the reception of that?
B: It’s been really encouraging to see how people are responding to it. I definitely tried to push myself on this last record to grow as a writer and as an artist, its still definitely pop music but I feel like its definitely a little more creative than the other previous records I’ve done. So, I’ve been encouraged to see that people have shared it with their friends and that it has kind of continued to grow and pick up steam.
A: What changes have you noticed in the industry as you have evolved as a musician?
B: I would say that from my vantage point, which I’m sure this is not a universal truth in the music industry, but it seems like more than ever people are very connected with social media and that kind of thing and I that because of that, things spread very quickly and I think that’s becoming more and more of a powerful tool for artists to use. Also just any kind of creative anything, be it a TV show or a movie or a record, if it’s something that people really love, it has a unique opportunity to spread now in a really organic way, so I feel like I’ve just seen that pick up a lot of steam which is great for an independent artist like me because its been a huge part of my career.
A: Since pretty much everyone has all the different social networks, which one do you like the most and is best for fans to reach out to you on?
B: I enjoy probably Twitter the most because you have a little more control over what you put out and what you take in. Facebook I enjoy too, like when I was in college I used Facebook to communicate with my friends and that kind of stuff and as music has grown I don’t really know many people on my Facebook anymore so it’s a lot of information to take in, I still really enjoy it. Twitter I like more because I get to see what I want to see from friends of mine and it also gives people a good way to get in touch with you a little bit or at least just say ‘hey I like this’ or whatever, so I really like Twitter but all of them serve a purpose.
A: You have had music on a lot of cool shows, so do you have a favorite of them and is there a show you would want your music to be on?
B: I don’t know if I have a favorite of a show that my music has been on. They used a song of mine on SportsCenter one time which I though was really cool because I like SportsCenter, but I don’t know, I enjoy TV and of course it would be fun for me if they used any of my songs on a TV show that I really love, but I’m really thankful to have my music on any TV show that its on, but I don’t know if I have a favorite. A: Do you have a favorite song that you have written because of the lyrics in it? B: There’s a song that I wrote called ‘Autumn’ that I felt like I really got to say what I wanted to say, pretty simply, I’d say that one’s a good example of that.
A: Are there any artists you would love to collaborate with or producers you would love to work with?
B: Oh yeah, I mean I have a lot of respect for a ton of different artists and producers. I don’t even know where to begin on that, I don’t even know if I could begin to name people, I have a ton of respect for so many different artists and producers, there’s not one that’s like ‘oh man this guy or this girl,’ its any number of them.
A: Do you have a dream venue to headline? B: I think I would have said the Ryman and we go to play there on this tour so that’s really cool, I’m from Nashville and so the Ryman has a ton of history there and it’s a really cool and unique venue, so I think up until now I would have said the Ryman and now I don’t really know where I would say. I think it would be awesome to play at some classic place like Madison Square Garden or somewhere like that, but I don’t know, I’m happy getting to play where I am playing so I’m just really thankful for that.
Official Site
Tour Dates:
Mar 9 Lovett Auditorium Murray, KY
Mar 10 Pageant St Louis, MO
Mar 11 Midland Theatre Kansas City, MO
Mar 12 Ogden Theatre Denver, CO
Mar 15 Crystal Ballroom Portland, OR
Mar 16 Vogue Theatre Vancouver, Canada
Mar 17 Moore Theatre Seattle, WA
Mar 19 Fillmore San Francisco, CA
Mar 20 Club Nokia Los Angeles, CA
Mar 23 Brady Theatre Tulsa, OK
Mar 24 Iowa State University Ames, IA
Mar 25 Orpheum Theatre Madison, WI
Mar 26 Intersection Grand Rapids, MI
Mar 27 Royal Oak Music Theatre Detroit, MI
Mar 29 First Avenue Minneapolis, MN
Mar 30 First Avenue Minneapolis, MN
Mar 31 Riviera Theatre Chicago, IL
Apr 10 Singletary Lexington, KY
Apr 11 House of Blues Cleveland, OH
Apr 12 Egyptian Room Indianapolis, IN
Apr 13 Stage AE Pittsburgh, PA
Apr 14 Phoenix Concert Theatre Toronto, Canada
Apr 16 State Theatre Portland, ME
Apr 17 House of Blues Boston, MA
Apr 19 Webster Hall New York, NY
Apr 20 Electric Factory Philadelphia, PA
Apr 21 9:30 Club Washington, DC
Apr 22 9:30 Club Washington, DC
Apr 23 Liberty University Lynchburg, VA
Apr 26 Memorial Auditorium Raleigh, NC
Apr 27 Little John Coliseum Clemson, SC
May 05 Wild Adventures Valdosta, GA
