Ben Kweller
Indie Rock / Alternative
Ben Kweller was originally the frontman for the band Radish, a band Rolling Stone compared to Nirvana. The band's popularity grew in the Dallas, Texas music scene from its formation in 1993. However, the band was dismissed by critics as little more than an imitation of Nirvana with the novelty of an extremely young lead vocal-guitarist (Kweller was in his teens for the entire existence of the band). Nonetheless, Kweller and his two bandmates, bassist Bryan Blur and drummer John Kent, were signed to a major record label in 1995 by Mercury Records. Regardless of a much-hyped beginning, which included appearances on The Weird Al Show, Late Night with Conan O'Brien and Late Show with David Letterman, Radish failed to strike big success with either its first record Dizzy or its sophomore effort Restraining Bolt.
Kweller began his solo career with his first album Freak Out, It's Ben Kweller. Recorded using a basic pro-tools setup, the album attracted the attention from the likes of Evan Dando of The Lemonheads. Dando invited Kweller to perform on tour with him as the main support across America and Europe. In 2001 Ben Kweller signed to ATO Records, and released the EP Phone Home. Several months later, in March of 2002, Sha Sha Kweller's first solo studio LP was released. Sha Sha included the very radio-friendly and popular single 'Wasted & Ready'. The title track reconciles his past career efforts with Radish and the difficulty of finding an identity as a 20 year-old artist beginning a musical career for the second time. The record kept many of the familiar sounds of Nirvana, but also worked in other pop music influences such as Weezer and Ben Folds. The album grew in popularity with a grassroot effort with his website and a promotion group called TeamBK, which promoted word-of-mouth advertising.
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