Ben Howard Profile Piece
Ben Howard, the singer-songwriter born in West London has had a big success with his music, which is shown strongly with the release of his first debut album 'Keep Your Head Up'.
Ben Howard grew up in South Devon, England, where his mother's collection of folk records helped instil a love for many great musicians such as Joni Mitchell, Donovan and Richie Havens. Music wasn't Howard's only talent; he had a passion for surfing at age 11. He spent most of his time at the beach whenever he wasn't busy writing music in the folksy style of his influences. Whilst studying for a degree in journalism at Falmouth University, Cornwall, Howard was able to combine his love of surfing and writing when he started writing for a magazine dedicated to everything 'surf', in Newquay.
However, Howard dropped out of University 6 months early though he was convinced by the enthusiastic response from the surf community to his music that he should leave the newsroom and focus on his songwriting. Once the decision was made, Ben began playing his music along the UK beaches with packed-out audiences.
As the audience got bigger, he began to develop his own unique style. He did this by learning a technique of rapping his knuckles across the guitar body between strums. This technique has given him a signature sound.
The free performances amongst the surfing community along the beaches had been all worthwhile as he accompanied Xavier Rudd on his European tour in late 2008. Rudd is an Australian singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist; his music is compassionate and always manages to render emotion in his fans (just like Howard's music now). The gigs gave Howard the opportunity to play to different audiences each night, ensuring that more and more people heard his sound, relying on word-of-mouth to market himself. Ben Howard's audience grew with the release of EP's like 'These Waters' and 'Old Pine' on 30th September 2011.
Howard is the first artist to release an album in the U.S through Communion. This was his first album and is called 'Keep Your Head Up'. This shows just how big his audience is and how much support he has. Not only is Howard doing radio, TV, and sold out gigs, he's also been playing on beaches all over the UK to promote cleaner shores. "Surfing is good for time and space... it's good to gather your thoughts" says Howard.
With Howard's new album 'The Burgh Island', he will be touring this year and is definitely the one to look out for.
