WNYC called him “the banjo visionary”, while the BBC called him “the banjo-wielding electronic experimentalist.”
Kramer of the Shimmy-Disc label said “Ben is the real thing. Like Elvis. Like Björk. Like Glenn Gould or Nina Simone, he's a truly original talent, burning bright as the sun. There's just no one else like him."
Ben “Baby” Copperhead is a New York City-based composer, multi-instrumentalist, and vocalist whose compositions, performances, and arrangements offer a unique, contemporary vision informed by an unlikely range of influences, traditions, and collaborations.
Rooted in folk music with an “otherworldly” banjo style, Copperhead uses modal and tonal explorations, while sometimes using samplers, processed drum machines, tape loops, and handmade electronic instruments inspired by the experimentalism of Musique Concrète.
Last year, Copperhead released Wailing Viridescence, his latest recording on the legendary and formative Shimmy-Disc label run by Kramer who is responsible for producing and putting out Ween, Galaxy 500, Daniel Johnston, Allen Ginsberg, John Zorn, BOREDOMS, RUINS and countless classics.
Ben Copperhead has worked with Mavis Staples, Darryl McDaniels (Run-DMC), Nona Hendryx, Michael Bearden, Hozier, Zea (The Ex), Eugene Chadbourne, Devon Sproule, Jace Clayton (DJ/rupture), and many more. He was a member of Ed Askew’s band and a founding member of the instrumental surf band The Zolephants.
video links-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-mDMXXuSHs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KhuO0jzOMrE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qSYMISNkL0
Chris Cundy is an award winning composer performer playing bass clarinet and rarified woodwind instruments. In 2024 he released his fourth solo album Of All The Common Flowers which explores a self-developed music of circular breathing, cross-rhythms, and archaic dance motifs. He has also worked with singer songwriters including Fyfe Dangerfield, Little Annie, and The Bookshop Band, and has appeared on motion picture soundtracks for Aardman Animations.
“Swirling around the songs was bass clarinet player Chris Cundy, like a birdsong interrupting an argument” LOS ANGELES TIMES
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