About Me
Born in Gary, Indiana B.E.N. always knew that he had a passion for the arts at an early age. He first started with drawing and, painting and eventually developed an ear for music. Listening to different genres and artists from "classic" times, to the artists that were out at the time, he developed a serious love for music. The emotion, the arrangement, the melody, the lyrics, everything touched his heart so much. But it wasnt until 1993, that he discovered that he had a voice. "The first song I ever sung was God Bless America, " "I was watching the George HW Bush Inaguration, and this black guy in his naval uniform was belting out these notes that were unbelievable." "I figured if I could imitate him then I could sing as well." From there he would sing cover songs of different artsits stemming from Mama Cass, to the Beatles, to Frank Sinatra, to Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder and a slew of other artists. But as time progressed he felt that it was time to finally figure out where HIS voice was. "It was soooo hard because I was so used to singing everyone else's songs that it was extremely difficult to find a voice of my own." It wasn't until he got his break in 2004 where his singing skills would be put to the test. Local artists from his area started to hear about a singer who would always sing at the local Pepe's restaurant during karaoke nights and would almost literally shut the place down. "I was just going there to get rid of my stage fright, then I was just doing it to better my performing and vocal skills, too bad it was in an environment where I could lose my voice as quickly as I found it (referring to the smoking that usually took place there.") Being found by the local artists in Gary he soon developed a portfolio for singing hooks and soon his voice would lead him to venture off into different fields. Singing at charity events, and other events eventually led him to venture off into Chicago, Illinois. "I figured I knew some poeple in the city I could just do a couple of hooks for some artists and then when they need me to perform, then I would show up just so I could establish a base there." "For now I'm just trying to manage school, work and music, if I find an opprtunity that would give me a chance at the big time, I'm on it, point blank period!"
