The Scene: Ben Barefoot

3/8/2012
Ben Barefoot
Ben Barefoot

Year started performing: I started performing in 2002 when I was 15. I played with a group called Own Free Will. Since then I've played with The AntiVillains, the Bells, and 582 (now Local Delivery). I play solo with Frankie May, or in a band we call The Hand Shakes.

Sounds a little like: Rock and roll from the 1960s and '70s. People call me a singer/songwriter, but I really don't like to think that I'm in the singer/songwriter genre. Singing and writing is one aspect but a lot of the music is written to be played by a full band, and not just on acoustic guitars. I love rock and roll, folk rock, country, Motown, and some of the indie rock that has come out recently.

Influences: The Beatles, Bob Dylan, the Rolling Stones, Tom Petty, Van Morrison, Smokey Robinson, Robert Johnson, Led Zeppelin, Leonard Cohen, Nirvana, Beck, Sheryl Crow, Wilco, Burt Bacharach, the Allman Brothers Band, CSNY, Bright Light Social Hour, The AntiVillains, John Dorssey, Mike Merritt, Adele, the Black Keys, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros.

Upcoming shows: March 16 and 17 (St. Patty's Day weekend) at Alexandria's is in Findlay. It's an excellent new bar and restaurant. There is even a bowling alley on the second floor. I'm really excited for this show because of the band line up. Frankie May, who plays with Crystal Bowersox; Sam Woldenberg, who plays with the AntiVillains; and Nathan Cogan, who plays with Taking Back Sunday. It's an all-star line up!

Any recordings: We produced a four-song EP last year, called "The Time Before" (2011). I have also played on the AntiVillains record "So Much For Romance" (2010), "Strung Out on the Wire" (2006), and Natural Awakening (Own Free Will, 2005).

Web site: reverbnation.com/benbarefootandthehandshakes