BEGIN:VCALENDAR PRODID;X-RICAL-TZSOURCE=TZINFO:-//com.denhaven2/NONSGML ri_cal gem//EN CALSCALE:GREGORIAN VERSION:2.0 BEGIN:VEVENT DESCRIPTION:BEN SOLLEE wants you to experience all the beauty and banalit y that life has to offer. It&rsquo\;s a serious request\, and his enthus iasm is genuine. Armed with a cello\, Sollee is canvassing the country\, sometimes by bicycle\, imploring folks to rediscover the connections be tween music\, art\, film\, dance\, their community\, and personal relati onships.These factors ultimately translate to the mindset and making of Ben&rsquo\;s new project &ndash\; Inclusions. Beyond bridging genres and demographics with earnest\, dynamic songwriting and passionate performa nces\, Ben Sollee seeks to intertwine his music with art and life. The t heme of Inclusions is large\, humanistic and universal &ndash\; how rela tionships influence us all whether intentional or not.The classically tr ained pop cellist recognized his community and relationships in every fa cet of Inclusions. Collaborating with local visual artist Phillip March Jones\, the album art for Inclusions brings a visual reference to the al legory of the album. Ben&rsquo\;s newfound rhythmic intensity comes cour tesy of a compositional backbone provided by his old friend and tour con fidant\, Jordon Ellis. Listeners are also treated to the voice of Cheyen ne Marie Mize\, who threads soaring harmonies throughout\, as well as so ngwriting for &ldquo\;I Need.&rdquo\;&ldquo\;I love this record\,&rdquo\ ; Ben admits. &ldquo\;I love it for all of its meanings\, explicit and i ncidental. I love the people I got to work with and the sound they helpe d create. I love how challenging it was to excavate some of the musical ideas and how others washed up in conversation. In these songs\, I can h ear the city I grew up in and the people that lived down the street.&rdq uo\;Ben Sollee first emerged with his inviting 2008-debut Learning to Be nd. Saturated with sweeping moods and visceral maturity\, Learning to Be nd showcased a wild mixture of musical approaches that Ben describes as &ldquo\;classically influenced folk with leanings of R&\;B and soul.& rdquo\; The album caught the ear of NPR&rsquo\;s Morning Edition\, which heralded Sollee as one of the &ldquo\;Top Ten Great Unknown Artists of 2007.&rdquo\;While people were getting their first listen of Learning to Bend\, Ben was out touring with banjo player and songstress Abigail Was hburn as part of the Sparrow Quartet. The ensemble\, also featuring Gram my-nominated fiddler Casey Driessen and multi-Grammy winning banjoist Be la Fleck\, explored the congregation of eastern and western folk music. The critically acclaimed ensemble toured throughout the world\, includin g a US Ambassadorial tour of Tibet.In 2010\, Ben collaborated with fello w Kentuckians Daniel Martin Moore and My Morning Jacket front-man Yim Ya mes on the Sub Pop released Dear Companion. The album explored Ben&rsquo \;s desire to use musical encounters as a catalyst to inspire environmen tal stewardship.Additionally\, Ben works with regional non-profits like Appalachian Voices and Kentuckians for the Commonwealth to help preserve a cornerstone and major influence of his songwriting &ndash\; his ances tral Appalachia. This past summer\, Ben teamed with his Dear Companion c ollaborators for the Appalachian Voices tour &ndash\; an eight-date tour to raise awareness about the destruction caused by mountain top removal coal mining in central Appalachia.&ldquo\;I never expect to see that ce llo in one piece after Ben gets done playing it\,&rdquo\; says Yim Yames . &ldquo\;He bows and beats and works it over with a passionate fury rar ely seen. Don&rsquo\;t get me wrong &ndash\; he can play it and hold his own with the most schooled and delicate scholars out there\, but more i mportantly\, Ben makes it live.&rdquo\; He continues\, &ldquo\;Ben&rsquo \;s songs speak worldly wisdom and stand on their own\, and he is out th ere in this world with those songs and that cello and that god-given voi ce of his\, riding his bike and fighting the good fight and doing all he can to help make the world right.&rdquo\;Later in 2010\, Ben embarked o n the &ldquo\;Ditch The Van Tour.&rdquo\; Ben and his band abandoned the comforts of a motorized vehicle and hauled their gear and instruments ( yep\, the cello too) across the country on bicycles. Ben&rsquo\;s missio n was to engage a greater sense of community involvement at every perfor mance. By huffing it on two-wheels between cities\, instead of driving o r flying\, Ben and his crew were able to discover people and facets of o ur country in ways that traditional touring could not allow. &ldquo\;It& rsquo\;s not about being green or even sustainable&hellip\; we want to e xploit the limitations of the bicycle to slow down and experience the ri ch communities and people that I&rsquo\;ve spent years flying-by and dri ving past.&rdquo\;Ben Sollee is not satisfied with just being a musician . It is absolutely paramount to him to incorporate collaborations\, rega rdless of age or credentials\, in his personal and professional life. &l dquo\;I&rsquo\;m such a mutt myself\, biologically and socially\, that i t just makes sense to express that as my pedigree. In the end\, that&rsq uo\;s what folk music is all about\; each of us telling our own story.&r dquo\;\n- Purchase Tickets Here -\nhttp://www.eddieowenpresents.com/ URL:http://duluth.patch.com/events/eddie-owen-presents-at-the-rct-ben-sol lee SUMMARY:EDDIE OWEN PRESENTS AT THE RCT: Ben Sollee LOCATION:Red Clay Theatre: 3116 Main St\, Duluth\, GA END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR