Devon, UK · folk · indie

Ben Howard

2 festivals played ↓

Moody English guitar-folk — from the campfire anthems of 'Every Kingdom' to gorgeous, murky experimentalism, following his own quiet obsessions rather than the charts.

Ben Howard was born in Richmond, in south-west London, and moved to Devon with his family when he was about eight, growing up amid the region's surf and folk scene. His parents played him records by John Martyn, Van Morrison, Joni Mitchell and Simon & Garfunkel, and he started writing his own songs at eleven, trying drums and double bass before settling on guitar.

He studied journalism at Falmouth College of Arts but left six months before finishing to concentrate on music, having already self-released the EPs "Games in the Dark", "These Waters" and "Old Pine". Word spread from Devon across the UK, and a run of sold-out shows led Island Records to sign him.

His debut album "Every Kingdom" brought him a broad audience with percussive, open-tuned guitar playing and songs such as "Only Love" and "The Wolves". It reached number four on the UK Albums Chart and was certified triple platinum, and Howard won both British Male Solo Artist and British Breakthrough Act at the 2013 Brit Awards.

Rather than repeat that formula, Howard turned progressively darker and more textural on "I Forget Where We Were", which reached number one in the UK, "Noonday Dream" and "Collections from the Whiteout", the last produced with Aaron Dessner. The later records favour long, atmospheric arrangements and processed guitar over conventional folk structure, and his live band reflects that shift.

Alongside his solo career, Howard has played in the band A Blaze of Feather, and in 2014 he was chosen to appear on the Totnes pound, a local currency tied to the Devon town near where he grew up.

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