Ben Kenney

Ben Kenney.Sr
Born	March 12, 1977 (1977-03-12)
Genres	Alternative rock, hip hop
Instruments	Vocals, guitars, bass, drums
Labels	Ghetto Crush Industries
Associated acts	Incubus, The Roots, Time Lapse Consortium, The Division Group, Supergrub
Website	www.benkenney.com

Benjamin Lee Kenney, Sr. (born on March 12, 1977), is a musician from Brielle, New Jersey, and the bassist for the band Incubus.

Ben Kenney played guitar for the hip-hop group The Roots before he joined Incubus in 2003 after the departure of bassist and founding member Alex Katunich aka Dirk Lance. He had previously played with Incubus members Mike Einziger and Jose Pasillas in Time Lapse Consortium.

Ben is known to play at least six different instruments and sometimes plays drum duets with Incubus' drummer Jose Pasillas live on-stage.

He has also done studio work for artists including: Justin Timberlake, Faith Evans, Erykah Badu, Blackalicious, and producers Timbaland and DJ Jazzy Jeff.

26, Maduro, Distance & Comfort & "Burn the Tapes" were all released by Ben's own record company, Ghetto Crush Industries. Ghetto Crush has also released music for The Division Group, Aleda, and Root Valdez. Ben has also helped The Smyrk produce their latest EP, New Fiction.

Solo career

Ben Kenney started off in a New Jersey band called Racecar in 1994 with band members Jimmie Mueller and Sam Hoffman. After this, he and his friend Chuck Treece started a musical duo christened Supergrub in 1996, with three CD's released: Norma & Thurselle, Communicator, and finally Challenger.

Ben has four solo albums, 26 released on December 1, 2004, Maduro released on March 1, 2006, Distance And Comfort released on January 15, 2008 and "Burn The Tapes released on October 1, 2010. Ben plays guitar, bass, and drums while singing and writing every part on the solo records. When touring to support his solo records he plays guitar and sings, along with Ashley Mendel on bass and vocals and Sekou Lumumba on drums.

Ben's website, benkenney.com, allows you to download three tracks from his solo work; Hoopdie from 26, Wrong from Maduro and Eulogy from Distance & Comfort. Towards the end of 2007 Ben added a link to a video of him playing each part of, Eulogy, a track from Distance And Comfort. In this video he also spoke about the tour he is doing with Chris Kilmore in early 2008.

On September 2, 2010, Kenney announced that his fourth solo album, Burn The Tapes was released.

Equipment

His bass equipment includes Lakland basses, Line 6 effects "(interview)". http://www.bassplayer.com/article/ben-kenney-on/Apr-04/650.  and Mesa Boogie amplifiers. His collection of basses includes a seafoam-green USA Joe Osborne, sunburst USA Joe Osborne with a fretless fingerboard, sunburst Skyline Joe Osborne, red Skyline Bob Glaub, shoreline gold Skyline Hollowbody, and a Hofner 500/1 "Beatle Bass". All of his basses have rosewood fingerboards and are strung with GHS flatwounds, with the exception of the Skyline Bob Glaub which is strung with roundwounds. His live Mesa/Boogie rig consists of a pair of Big Block 750 heads and a Roadready 8x10 cabinet. In the studio and for solo gigs and small live gigs with Incubus, he uses Mesa Walkabout 1x12 combos and extension cabs.

Discography

26 (2004)

1. Breathe - 3:31
2. Hoopdie - 4:17
3. 4.2.3. - 5:23
4. Andrea's Asleep - 1:08
5. Creme - 3:41
6. You Won't Like the Sound - 3:16
7. So Hard - 2:47
8. Mr. Spader, I Presume - 1:28
9. Empty Handed - 4:30

Maduro (2006)

1. Wrong - 3:00
2. Inside Pt. 2 - 4:15
3. Skyscraper - 2:57
4. Nigeria - 1:12
5. The Ether - 2:52
6. Nepenthe - 1:15
7. Conception and the Funeral - 3:26
8. It's Not Too Late - 4:08
9. How Would You Know? - 3:49
10. Girl - 3:55
11. The Moment - 3:09

Distance and Comfort (2008)

1. Not Today - 3:27
2. Get It to Go - 2:14
3. 18th Avenue - 3:53
4. Eulogy - 4:20
5. Walking - 5:19
6. When We Are Both Cats - 1:51
7. Implants - 3:04
8. Fluorescent Yellow - 4:14
9. Some Days Are Better Than Others - 2:58
10. Comfort - 7:06

Burn the Tapes (2010)

1. Beard of Bees - 3:50
2. Homes - 3:52
3. Heemtro - 0:44
4. Aftertouch - 3:09
5. Rubber Sheets - 4:40
6. The Kibash - 3:52
7. Worlds Collide - 3:54
8. Ishmael - 1:45
9. Habit - 3:34
10. Go - 5:49

Three singles are available for download through Ben's webpage: "Hoopdie", "Wrong", and "Eulogy".

External links

• Ben's website
• Incubus' official website
• The Division Group website
• Supergrub website
• Ghetto Crush Industries website
• Incubus' #1 fansite
• Ben Kenney search on the iPhone
• Incubus Portugal
• Ben Kenney interview with TheGrixer.com