Ben Blankenship  Americana Duo from Nashville, TN

Singing guitarist for any size event. Solo, duo or trio Acoustic and/or electric guitar. 1920's-1940's Jazz Standards Americana, Rhythm and Blues, Classic Country and Rockabilly (see songlist below) Over 25 years experience playing for audiences in North America and Europe I grew up on the mean streets of Enid, a small Oklahoma oil and farming town, the middle son of the town urologist. Some might see this as an unlikely and somewhat infertile beginning for someone to feel the call of the troubadour, perhaps, but there it is. I started playing guitar at 13...learning songs, making noise in our basement and occasionally performing with friends in junior high school assemblies. That calling has taken me from playing guitar for reggae and country rock bands in Norman, Oklahoma to busking on the streets of San Francisco and Prague. Settling for three years in New York City, I played in the bars and coffee houses and sometimes the subway tunnels of that town while teaching English in a Bronx high school. After three years of teaching and playing in New York, I felt it was time for another move, this time to Nashville. I wanted to play with the best and write more songs...better songs. I continued to teach high school English, but now as a language instructor instead of a traditional grammar and literature teacher. The last few years, my students have been exclusively immigrants and refugees from far away places like Nepal, Myanmar, Pakistan, Syria, and the countries of Central America. I love working with them. I feel it gives me a unique opportunity to see this country, in all of its flawed beauty, with the fresh eyes of a newcomer every day. I've continued to write, record and play, co-founding rock and roll band The Double Intenders and touring as a solo artist and with my wife, Carol Jane.