Ben Hernandez is a dynamic vocalist and multi-instrumentalist rooted firmly in the early American musical traditions of gospel, country blues, ragtime and jug band music. Hernandez’s primary instrument is his voice; a blend of raw power and subtle intensity, reflecting his gospel influences. Ben is a gifted harmonica player and his skill on the instrument is reminiscent of greats such as Sonny Terry, Noah Lewis, and Will Shade. Hernandez is also an accomplished player on the jug, spoons, washboard, kazoo, and gutbucket bass.
Hernandez was born and raised in Hanford and Exeter California, small farm towns in the fertile San Joaquin Valley. He grew up amid the thundering boom of coupling boxcars in the train yards of Exeter and the haunting laughter of coyotes in the orchards and fields near his house. He was inspired by the sound of the country all around him.
Music was always a part of the Hernandez household. “Sometimes, in the afternoon, my mother would play this old upright piano we had in our living room or break out her guitar or dulcimer and play folk songs,” Ben recalls. “My father has this amazing, rich baritone voice. He loves traditional hymns and I always loved standing next to him in church listening him sing songs like ‘How Great Thou Art’.”
In August 1994, having just turned 18, Ben traveled to Memphis, Tennessee for a church convention. While in Memphis, he further embraced a style of music that would, unbeknownst to him at the time, deepen his appreciation for early American culture and set him on a career path to preserving a fading musical genre. “I was saved at that very convention and I bought my first Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee record in a shop on Beale St. I had to wait almost an entire week to listen to it because I didn’t have a portable CD player. But when I finally got it home and heard Sonny Terry doing ‘Sonny’s Squall’, things changed. I hadn’t heard anyone play the harmonica like that before. I had been “born again” by God and country blues at the same time.”
Hernandez began playing in bands near his home soon after, but eventually moved down to Los Angeles to pursue better music opportunities. Ben worked 12 to 14 hour days for several film and television production companies making reality shows to make ends meet and played music on the weekends. A country boy now in the city, Los Angeles proved quite a challenge with it’s traffic, smog, and over-saturated music scene.
In 2001 Hernandez was introduced to former James Harman guitarist, Nathan James, who was playing solo at an afternoon gig in Long Beach, California. Ben was invited to sit in and as Nathan recalls, “It was refreshing to hear someone playing “country-blues” harmonica, because hardly anyone was playing in that style…and he could sing, which started me thinking about having someone to help carry the show.” Soon the two began trying the new duo in some smaller venues around San Diego & Orange counties on the weekends. Hernandez would commute from Los Angeles to Oceanside on Fridays, which “was hell,” he says, and would sleep on Nathan’s couch. “I found out that I was making more in a weekend playing music with Nathan and having more fun then I was working my day job in Los Angeles…and I was my own boss!”
As the duo’s momentum began to increase, Nathan finally suggested to Ben that he cut his ties to Los Angeles and move down to San Diego County. Hernandez settled in the little beach town of Carlsbad and from there began what has proved to be a long and fruitful partnership with Nathan James.
Together, the two have played many top music festivals, released three albums (their latest, “Hollerin’!” just received a San Diego Music Award), won the International Blues Challenge in Memphis, Tennessee, and have taken their music to Canada, Europe and Asia. In a few short years Nathan James & Ben Hernandez have risen through the roots music ranks, garnering praise from some of the nation’s top players and critics. Their live performances are not to be missed—a show of impressive sounds and sights. Both players take turns singing lead, harmonizing, and incorporating their many homemade folk instruments. James plays two or three different guitars and provides unique percussion sounds by tapping his feet on a foot-drum made from a vintage Skyway suitcase, a coffee can and toy cymbal. Hernandez complements by adding jug, kazoo, washboard, spoons and gutbucket bass.
Ben Hernandez will soon be venturing out on his own focusing on gospel music, a genre that he says, “has been an important part of my life for many years. I wake up thinking about gospel music, I go to bed thinking about it. It’s the most beautiful music in the world.”
Hernandez, who has recently relocated to Charlotte, North Carolina will no doubt ease comfortably into the rich mosaic of southeastern music and history. With his versatility and passion for American roots music, Ben is sure to make the same waves on the east coast as he has on the west.
--Isaiah Sellers
