DESCRIPTION:
I met Ben Bedford a few years ago in Lebanon, Tennessee when we shared a spontaneous song circle with Linda McRae. I'd heard Ben's first album, "Lincoln's Man" and sang my version of one of his songs to him. He's since covered my "61 North" on occasion. I once wrote of Ben's singing that, "You can hear his heart in his breath." I'll stand by that. His second album, "Land Of The Shadows" picks up where the first album left off, and "The Sangamon" is a standout track from it. Both albums feature fine songwriting, evidencing Ben's love for song portraits and his knowledge of American history. I'm glad to call Ben Bedford a friend. ~DL

"After only five years as a full-time artist, Bedford has already played WFMT's Folkstage (hosted by Rich Warren) as well as Izzy Young's famed Folklore Centrum in Stockholm, Sweden. Bedford's music has been played on National Public Radio's Car Talk, reached the top ten on the Folk-DJ charts with both his debut and sophomore albums and was featured in The Sounding Board, the official newsletter of the renowned C.F. Martin Guitar Company. In addition, both of Bedford's albums have reached the top 25 on the Euro Americana charts and Bedford has toured Europe on three occasions. In July of 2010, Bedford was named one of the "50 most significant Folk singer-songwriters of the past 50 years" by Rich Warren of WFMT Chicago. The list, which included artists such as Bob Dylan, Townes Van Zandt, Judy Collins, Diana Jones, Michael P. Smith and John Prine subsequently appeared on the blog of journalist Eric Zorn on the Chicago Tribune website. Referring to his style as 'American Portrait Songwriting', Bedford will spend 2010-2011 touring in support of Land of the Shadows and working on material for his next album."

Quoted notes are from Ben's website:
http://www.benbedford.com