Ben Rudnick & Friends

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Ben Rudnick & Friends is a band that creates original music and covers traditional material, catering to families. The group hails from the New England area, primarily Boston and the surrounding suburbs. To date, BR&F has been awarded Seven Parents' Choice awards. The band is currently in their seventeenth year, has twelve recordings, and has toured nationwide.

History

Rudnick started his interest in music at the age of 9 years old, wanting a concertina like Corporal Agarn's gypsy cousin in F Troop. Rudnick's gradfather, who played the accordion, ended up getting him a small accordion. Rudnick switched, after being disappointed by the accordion, to the piano and took lessons with Paul Jacobs, who was Meatloaf’s piano player at the time and music director for the Firesign Theater.

Rudnick, while attending Far Rockaway High School, played in a band called Truth, Reality and Creation. The band was modeled on Earth, Wind and Fire and played club dates in the Bedford Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn. It was during this time that Rudnick switched to the guitar and began songwriting.

Ben Rudnick and John Zevos met in 1984 at Belisle music in Manchester NH. Ben was working for Digital Equipment Corporation and sough guitar lessons. Zevos and Rudnick shared many coincidences including both attending Potsdam College in Potsdam, NY though not at the same time. Originally, the two began playing as a duo which was called Stone Dove. From there, the duo played in a bluegrass band called the Bluegrass Connection. The Bluegrass Connection released one recording entitled, There Is A Time which featured a song entitled "Anna Lee Blues" of which Rudnick wrote. After two years in the Bluegrass Connection, Rudnick joined a blues band based in Arlington, MA called The Ed’s. The Ed’s featured future BR&F accordion player Mark Yacovone on keyboards. 

In 1999, Rudnick's daughter was four years old and his wife asked him to play some songs at her birthday party. Rudnick wrote three songs for the occasion: "I Like Silver I Like Gold," "I Need a Hand" and "Cowgirl Song." The response from the attendees was positive, so Rudnick embarked on a journey to make a recording directed toward children and families.

Besides the newly written songs, Rudnick arranged several other children’s songs (Skip To My Lou, The Window) and adopted several other songs Zevos and Rudnick had been playing in their various bands including "Salt Creek," "El Cumbanchero," "Monkey and the Engineer" and a song Zevos taught Rudnick early on when taking lessons at Belisle Music in Manchester NH called "Dadalada" written by Richard S. Saslow and included in a seminal guitar fingerpicking book called The Art of Ragtime Guitar.

The recording sessions consisted of Zevos and Rudnick sitting across from each other, playing live, at Soundlab Studios in Milford, NH. The engineer was Arnie Ashford, who added bass guitar and vocals and became part of the live band as a founding member.

Additional recording sessions occurred in the studio of Jeff Bird (Cowboy Junkies, Tamarack) in Guelph, Ontario. A highlight of the sessions included a track of random mayhem on the song "I Like Silver I Like Gold." The mayhem included Bird and Rudnick playing random percussion instruments, whistles and noisemakers for the duration of the recording although they were not listening to the music. It worked out incredibly well.

The original cover of Emily Songs by Bob von Elgg listed Rudnick as a solo artists, which was requested to be changed by Rudnick to add “and Friends.”

Once Emily Songs was finished, CDs and Cassettes were both printed, the band started to play engagements. After the recording won multiple awards and garnered positive press, work began on the second recording, Fun and Games, also at Soundlabs Studios in Milford, NH.

Musical Influences

The overriding musical influences of Rudnick's music is The Grateful Dead with the emphasis being their “everything is welcome musically” approach with the whole becoming greater than the sum of the parts mentality.

The Beatles have been another overriding influence. While in the recording studio the question of “what would the Beatles do?” often came up. That influence peaked with the song Wake Up Happy on the recording Love is A Superpower. Also the last chord on the song Grace’s Bell is in the style of the Beatles.

Texas Swing – a favorite genre of John Zevos and happily adopted by Rudnick, the style comes out in the live shows when the band plays San Antonio Rose, and on the recording Love is a Superpower, Swing' Along (Zevos), and Wheels (Rudnick) are in the Texas Swing style and feature Kneny Kosek on fiddle. Kenny would go on to play live with BR&F several times at shows in Manhattan.

Members

• Ben Rudnick – guitar and vocals
• Jared Steer – drum kit and percussion
• Chris Zevos – bass guitar and vocals
• John Zevos – mandolin and vocals

Friends

• Margo Timmins – Cowboy Junkies – sang Everything is Alright on the CD Fun and Games.
• Jeff Bird – Cowboy Junkies – on too many songs to list.
• Buddy Cage – New Riders of the Purple Sage – played with the band at the 10^th anniversary show and is on the studio recordings of Cowgirl Song and Chet’s Fabulous Diner both on the Graces Bell CD
• Kenny Kosek – Jerry Garcia Acoustic Band, James Taylor
• Johnny Sciascia – Roy Sludge Band, Eilen Jewel – notably on the song Race Car (A Frog Named Sam) and My Horse (Love is a Superpower)
• M’talewa Thomas – Entrain – on the song Where are the Dragons on the Love is A Superpower CD

Former members

• Arnie Ashford, bass/vocals
• Mark Yacovone, accordion

Discography

• A Frog Named Sam Soundtrack (2016)
• Love is a Superpower (2013)
• Live in Lexington (2011)
• It's Santa Clause (2010)
  • Reviewed in Downbeat Magazine.
• A Frog Named Sam (2009)
  • The seventh recording from Ben Rudnick and Friends, A Frog Named Sam, was released on March 24, 2009.
  • A Frog Named Sam consists of seven original songs and four cover songs. Of the original songs, Ben Rudnick wrote five and John Zevos wrote two.
  • A combination live/animated video for the song was directed by Simon Werdmuller von Elgg with art supplied by Bob von Elgg.
  • A Frog Named Sam was recorded at Mortal Music (now Revolution Sound Studios in Charlestown, MA).
  • Musicians on the recording include the core band at that time:
    • Ben Rudnick – guitar, ukulele and vocals
    • Arnie Ashford – bass guitar and vocals
    • Mark Yacovone – accordion
    • Jared Steer – drums and percussion
    • John Zevos – mandolin and vocals
  • Additional musicians include:
    • Andy Pinkham – guitar, tenor guitar and bass guitar
    • Rob Lee – baritone and tenor saxophones
    • Jeff Bird (Cowboy Junkies) – harmonica
    • Bob von Elgg – dobro
    • Johnny Sciascia (Eileen Jewell)
  • Notable highlights from A Frog Named Sam include:
    • Arnie Ashford played bass and sang all vocal parts on Three Little Fishies. The only other contribution to the song was saxophone played by Rob Lee.
    • John Zevos contributed The Santa Fe and John’s Jig to the recording. John and Ben had played The Santa Fe in their bluegrass band, The Bluegrass Connection.
    • Ben wrote Ben’s Jig as a minor key response to John’s Jig, which had been set in a major key.
• The Challenger Baseball Song (2007)
  • The sixth CD released by Ben Rudnick and Friends, The Challenger Baseball Song and Other Hits, was released in March of 2007.
  • The Challenger Baseball Song, adopted as the Little League’s Challenger Baseball Division’s theme song, was written by Ben Rudnick and Tony Chironno. Tony, an old friend, approached Ben with some lyrics for the song born out of the experience he had and his son Nick had with Challenger Baseball.
  • The CD was meant to be a fundraising device for the Challenger Division of the Little League.
  • In addition to The Challenger Baseball Song, an instrumental version of the song was included on the CD as were five other Ben Rudnick and Friends original songs including a newly recorded version of I Need A Hand.
  • The artwork for the CD was done by Bob von Elgg and featured the Little League Baseball logo.
  • Track listing for the CD is:
    • The Challenger Baseball Song
    • My Name is Burt
    • I Like Silver, I Like Gold
    • I Need A Hand
    • Grace’s Bell
    • The Challenger Baseball Song (Instrumental) featuring Mark Yacovone on organ and Ben Rudnick on slide guitar.
  • Personnel on The Challenger Baseball Song featured the quintet at that time:
    • Arnie Ashford – bass guitar and vocals
    • Ben Rudnick – guitars and vocals
    • Jared Steer – drums and percussion
    • Mark Yacovone – organ
    • John Zevos – mandolin and vocals
• Grace's Bell (2007)
  • The fifth recording from Ben Rudnick and Friends, Grace’s Bell, was released on February 20, 2007.[1]
  • Grace’s Bell consists of eight original songs and five cover songs drawn from the band’s live shows.
  • The title of the album was set before the title song was written. Ben Rudnick decided to name the album Grace’s Bell after a little girl, Grace, from up the street where he lives. Grace would never speak but would proudly ring the bell on her bicycle with great purpose. Ben took that to heart and decided to name the album Grace’s Bell. The album artist, Bob von Elgg, requested that Ben write a song to go along with the title. The song was recorded within two weeks of that request.
  • Grace’s Bell was recorded at Mortal Music (now Revolution Sound Studios in Charlestown, MA.
    • Notable highlights from Grace’s Bell include:
      • A guest spot on pedal steel guitar by Buddy Cage of the New Riders of the Purple Sage. Buddy played on Chet’s Fabulous Diner and Cowgirl Song.
      • The band’s first use of a horn section on Tuba Tune.
      • The inclusion of Chet’s Fabulous Diner. Ben Rudnick wrote this song as an ode to Chet’s Diner in Northborough, MA. The diner is owned by the family of deceased baseball star Mark Fidrych.
      • Jeff Bird (Cowboy Junkies) again appeared on much of Grace’s Bell.
      • Mama Don’t ‘Low, Hava Nagila, When The Saint’s Go Marching In and Route 66 were all recorded live in the studio.
      • Cowgirl Song was originally released on Emily Songs. The new version changed the key up a whole step.
      • Somewhere Over The Rainbow, sung by bassist Arnie Ashford, was done in the light reggae style popularized by Hawaiian singer Israel Kamakawiwoʻole.  
• Live at the Playground (2005)
  • Released in November of 2005.
  • After the release of Blast Off, it became apparent that the band needed to have it’s own record label. Bartlett Ave. Records was formed and Live at the Playground 88.9 FM was the maiden recording.
  • The band was regular visitors to The Playground radio show at the Emerson College station, WERS, 88.9FM, the band recorded all the songs live and on the air. Four of the five songs were recorded on April 16, 2005 and one, Macaroni and Cheese, was recorded on April 4, 2004.
  • The personnel on both recordings was the quintet including:
    • Ben Rudnick on guitar and vocals
    • John Zevos on mandolin and vocals
    • Jared Steer on drums and percussion
    • Mark Yacovone on accordion
    • Arnie Ashford on bass and vocals
  • Notable highlights from the Live at the Playground recording include:
    • The first recording on Bartlett Ave. Records
    • Songs were a mix of covers and originals common in their set list of that period.
  • Live at the Playground was released on CD only. The artwork included a photo by David Reiss, edited by Bob von Elgg. The Bartlett Ave. Records Pear Logo was created by Bob von Elgg.

• Blast Off! (2004)
  • The third recording from Ben Rudnick and Friends, Blast Off, was released on July 20, 2004.  
  • Ben Rudnick and Friends had been touring steadily after the release of Fun and Games, playing thirty-two concerts in the summer of 2002. Throughout the fall, new songs were written for recording sessions that would begin in late winter of 2003.
  • For Blast Off, the band chose to record at Mortal Music, (now Revolution Sound Studio) in Charlestown, MA, with the studio owner, Andy Pinkham, engineering and coproducing.
  • The rocket ship/space theme doesn’t really extend through the whole recording although there is a cartoonish instrumental, Martian Hoedown, which mixes a Saturday morning, Martian invasion cartoon march with up tempo bluegrass for an interesting effect.
  • Blast Off would be the last album the band made which featured only acoustic guitars other than the electric bass guitar.
  • Notable highlights from the Blast Off recording include:
    • The introduction of the band’s first song segue with Rocket Ship Man and I Got a New Friend.
    • The recording of Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious from the movie, Mary Poppins.
    • The song Juicy Black Fly is a continuation of the song, Sally Salamander, which appeared on the Fun and Games recording. The song, Juicy Black Fly, picks up with the chords that end Sally Salamander and continues the story of Sally Salamander from the Fly’s perspective.
    • Jeff Bird (Cowboy Junkies) again appeared on much of Blast Off!
    • MTA, ([[M.T.A. (song|M.T.A._(song]]) )a concert staple for the band, and a holdover from Ben Rudnick and John Zevos bluegrass band, Bluegrass Connection, was officially recorded.  
• Fun and Games! (2002)
  • The second recording from Ben Rudnick and Friends, Fun and Games, was released on July 1, 2002. Sessions once again commenced at Sound Lab Studios in Milford, NH with Arnie Ashford engineering. With eight original songs written by Rudnick, a unique take on the song Swingin’ on a Star (popularized by Bing Crosby in the 1944 film, Going My Way, and several fiddle tunes to round out the mix, Fun and Games was a successful recording for the band earning the distinguished Parents’ Choice Silver Honor in the Fall 2002 Awards.
    • Notable highlights from the Fun and Games recording include:
      • Margo Timmins (Cowboy Junkies) singing Everything is Alright a song written by Ben Rudnick in 1982.
      • The introduction of Jared Steer as the band’s full time drummer/percussionist.
      • The inclusion of the song Sheik Scruggs on the recording. Written by Bluegrass Connection banjoist Adam Delong, Sheik Scruggs was also included on the Bluegrass Connection recording, There is a Time. Newly recorded for Fun and Games, Adam Delong is once again featured on banjo.
      • Jeff Bird (Cowboy Junkies) again appeared on much of Fun and Games
    • The songs on Fun and Games became instant concert staples for the band. Some highlights include:
      • Macaroni & Cheese- The middle section, beginning with the lyric “The orange glow is not the sun.”  is a homage to Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of The Moon and the lyric “The lunatic is in the grass.”
      • Sally Salamander, a song about the food chain, came from a little stuffed salamander Ben’s daughter had purchased on vacation. A newly recorded version of the song was eventually used by Mibblio for an interactive app that allows kids to play along with the song.
      • Twisting Low – is the first use of  Caribbean rhythms by the band.
      • Spin – often used as the last song of the show, Spin channels the Grateful Dead’s version of the Buddy Holly classic, Not Fade Away.
      • Jessica’s Song was written for a friend of Emily’s who asked Ben during a car ride “How come there are no Jessica Songs?”
    • Fun and Games was released on CD and Cassette. The artwork created by Bob von Elgg, was meant to evoke a board game. The “spaces” to move pieces along are representative of the snake found in the song Sally Salamander. The artwork also featured a captured image of macaroni as part of the backdrop.
• Emily Songs (2000)

Awards

• Parent's Choice Award- "Emily Songs" (2000)
• Parent's Choice Award- "Fun and Games" (2002)
• Parent's Choice Award- "Blast Off" (2004)
• Parent's Choice Award- "Grace’s Bell" (2007)
• Parent's Choice Award- "A Frog Named Sam" (2009)
• Santa's Choice Award- "It’s Santa Claus" (2010)
• Parent's Choice Award- "Live in Lexington" (2012)
• Parent's Choice Award- "Love is a Superpower" (2013)

References

This article "Ben Rudnick & Friends" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:Ben Rudnick & Friends. Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.

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