Ben Kweller

Born into a musical family, which apparently numbered Nils Lofgren as a close friend, it would have not been unreasonable to predict that Ben would pursue a career in music. What was unlikely was that Ben would have made big steps towards that career by the age of 11, by forming the band Radish.

The band, playing an approximation of grunge, were swiftly signed in Dallas, and released an E.P "Hello" and an L.P "Dizzy" on the small Practice Amp label in 1994. By 1996 the group were the subject of acute speculation, by a music business looking for a new Silverchair. The following year's, Restraining Bolt led the band to briefly becoming stars, notching a UK top 40 hit in "Little Pink Stars". After this brief burst of interest, the band began to falter, with their eventual split in 1999 with Kweller still just 17.

After a period of relative normalcy, Kweller decided to rejoin the music world, moving to Brooklyn and undertaking tours with Evan Dando and Juliana Hatfield. In 2002 he released the wonderful "Sha Sha", a breezy summery album that included the hit "Wasted and Ready". He also had found time to contribute to "The Bens E.P." with fellow Bens, Folds and Lee. In 2004, Kweller released the equally sublime "On My Way". William Fuller