Today I had the opportunity to see lots of old friends from the road. The touring electricians and lighting people, the audio team, our backline techs, production and tour managers, musicians, truck and bus drivers, and local production and stage people here in Detroit. Our Rock Hall Free For All tour with Heart, Joan Jett [...]
Royal Albert Hall as seen from the Drummer's Nest People all over the planet love to experience live music. I’ve seen it, felt it, and loved them back. Heart is gigging a run of shows in the UK this week. After arriving in London a couple of days ago, it has been very clear to [...]
Anytime I get to play it's a wonderful thing. I am so grateful to perform and record with a wide variety of songwriters, projects, artists, musicians, bands and producers. These can include film, tv and radio music, independent releases, signed acts, performance artists and the occasional piano playing kitten. Being asked to give my all [...]
Musicians love to perform. For us, trading musical energy between the musicians sharing it with the crowd is how we express so many of our emotions. Anytime I have the opportunity to play a show, whether is a big place to play with Heart, or a smaller one, I'm so grateful to get to fill my heart with [...]
I have had some really fun days in my life, and some occurred recently with Ben Smith Music Company while on tour with Heart. After a couple of very busy and stressful months, I asked my business partner, Valda Sarty, for help getting the word out about what we are doing in Ben Smith Music [...]
In 2013, I established what has become Ben Smith Music Studio and in January of 2015, I decided to "Just Do It!" turning an even more profound dream into reality by way of a business partnership with good friend and successful entrepreneur, Valda Sarty. With my expertise of the music industry and her’s in business development [...]
When my heart is captured by the beauty of a line of lyric, a melody aimed at my heart, or a performance filled with the fire of creation, I remember all over again why I love music so much. I live for those moments, and I think many artists, musicians, writers and creative talent do [...]
Our next foray into TAWT shows is coming right up, with an Arizona/California run that will be a blast! For me, the big take-away of playing with The Ann Wilson Thing is not only the opportunity to perform with Ann Wilson, a world-class vocal artist fronting the band and making it all happen, but also how fun [...]
We started a Heart record in January which is almost mixed and finished. We did it in LA with great studios and engineers, some fun takes on deep Heart cuts and some new songs too! After several other shows in January and February, Heart took a lively and fun trip in March, 2016 through Canada [...]