Nashville-based singer/songwriter Ben Rector makes passionate and melodic, piano-driven pop. Following early indie buzz for albums like 2010's Into the Morning and 2011's Something Like This, Rector gained wider attention with 2013's The Walking in Between, which reached number 16 on the Billboard 200. He has continued to enjoy chart success, consecutively topping Billboard's Americana/Folk Albums chart with 2015's Brand New and 2018's Magic. In 2022, he further displayed his broad stylistic reach collaborating with artists like Snoop Dogg, Kenny G, and Dawes' Taylor Goldsmith on The Joy of Music. He followed it with a concert album, Live from Atlanta, recorded during the Joy of Music tour, then duetted with country singer Hailey Whitters on the 2024 single "Color Up My World." Born in Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1986, he studied piano while he was growing up and, by his teens, he was also singing, playing guitar, and writing his own music. However, it wasn't until he studied at the University of Arkansas that he began recording his songs. A self-titled EP that Rector released during his freshman year at college caught on locally, and soon he was playing live shows. By the time he graduated in 2009, he'd released two full-length albums, 2007's Twenty Tomorrow and 2008's Songs That Duke Wrote. After college, Rector relocated to Nashville to pursue a career as both a songwriter and performer. In 2010, he released his third studio album, Into the Morning, which reached the number 11 spot on the Billboard Heatseekers chart. Around this time, he began nabbing support slots for such established acts as Five for Fighting and Dave Barnes. In 2011, he returned with Something Like This, which also received positive attention (especially for an independent release) and climbed to number 41 on the album chart. In 2013, Rector released his fifth studio album, The Walking in Between, and easily cracked the Top 40. The concert album Live in Denver appeared in 2014. In 2016, Rector returned with Brand New, which debuted in the Top Ten of the Billboard 200 and topped the folk chart, due in large part to the success of the hook-driven title track. Magic, Rector's seventh studio effort, followed in 2018 and made another strong chart showing, becoming his second consecutive album to reach number one on Billboard's Folk Albums chart. Reworking three songs from Magic into alternate versions, Rector issued the MPLS Magic EP in January 2019. Following 2020's holiday-themed A Ben Rector Christmas, he collaborated with one of his heroes, Steve Winwood, on the 2021 non-album single "Range Rover." Rector's next full-length was 2022's The Joy of Music, an eclectic pop album featuring a range of guest players including Snoop Dogg, Kenny G, Dawes' Taylor Goldsmith, and others. While touring the album he recorded a series of shows, one of which became 2023's Live from Atlanta which featured a standout a cappella version of "Range Rover" with Stephen Day and Jordy Searcy. In March 2024, he and Hailey Whitters teamed up for the country duet "Color Up My World." ~ Matt Collar

Ben Rector, Cody Fry, Grand Rapids Symphony

Ben Rector

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