Ben-O brings solo work back to Oberlin

Ben-O is back, and he's going solo. Ben Jones (OC '96) may have parted a few years back and left his former Oberlin band, Days Like This, behind, but tomorrow night at the Cat, Oberlin will welcome the singer/songwriter back for his first post-graduate performance in a year, marking his 18th Cat perfomance.

Since graduating, Ben-O took to the road and headed West to the promiseland for would-be stars: California. There, the musician got into the routine of playing solo shows by default, mainly because the duo plan with Days Like This' drummer, Adam Rhodes (OC '97) did not stick for more than a short while. However, the singer recalls that doing more solo work was actually beneficial for his career, and thus chose to return to Oberlin as a one-man band.

After establishing himself in the Berkeley/Oakland area, Ben-O worked up to playing an average of about two shows a week, which is quite an accomplishment given the competition amongst young up-and-comings in that region, especially in the folk circuit. But he built his way up from the bottom, starting off opening for smaller acts on weeknights, and eventually gaining better slots, finally gaining regular gigs like his regular Wednesday night impromptu with the Buckhorn.

Ben-O explained that the open-mike circuit is what broke him for the larger audiences in the Bay Area. "You just try to go to as many open mike nights as you can," he explained. "A lot of them end up being more established, and eventually, you meet the people that run the bars, and go from there."

Though "making it big" in California is the big goal for a lot of musicians, Ben-O still has strong ties to Oberlin. He said that this since last Spring. "It's been almost six years since my first Cat show," he recalled, "and I'm going full-circle by coming back. This is really the last year that people are going to know and remember me [as a student]."

Ben-O latest, Home, was welcomed with praise from his circle of friends and fans. His next studio album is not on Ben-O's mind; infact, he said that he's had more fun improving the live-side of his talent during his time in California rather than being stuck in a recording booth.

However, even while continuing to perform live shows on a steady basis this past year, Ben-O did land himself on a compillation with "Song for Dan," and won an honorable mention in the international Unisong Songwriting Contest for "Same Old Way." And yes, Ben-O is networked: www.ben-o.com gets a significant number of hits, and shares ties with FolkWeb alongside the likes of Eddie From Ohio, Jennifer Kimball and others.

Saturday will be more than a kind of homecoming for Ben-O, even without his bandmates. However, there's no hard feelings here; the songwriter just wants to let his fellow alumni know what he's been up to for the past year. He said, "I worked so hard on the solo thing, I wanted to bring it back to Oberlin."

Ben-O performs Saturday at 9:30 p.m. at the Cat in the Cream, with Marc Rosenthal opening.

Going solo Gentle Ben-O, Obie folk legend. (photo by Tanya Rosen, OC '97)