Benji Kirkpatrick

Benji Kirkpatrick was born in the summer of 1976 when his parents, folk luminaries John Kirkpatrick and Sue Harris, were on a rare break from touring. The couple played together as a duo throughout the 70’s and 80’s and with countless classic line ups – Albion Country Band, Steeleye Span, Richard Thompson, Brass Monkey to name but a few. In the hills of Shropshire, Benji, like other children immersed in the folk world, was brought up listening to a wide range of musical styles. It wasn’t long before he was picking up instruments and with the arrival of an electric guitar into his life, Benji began listening to 50’s Rock n’ Roll, before moving via ZZ Top to Jimi Hendrix.   At college, Benji formed a band called The Hedgerows, who eventually evolved into an acoustic outfit, resulting in them having a song (penned by Benji) featured on Evolving Tradition 1 (Mrs Casey Records) in 1995. This got Benji’s name noticed and his solo debut (‘Dance in the Shadow’) was released in 1998 on the Wildgoose label. Benji joined the band Dr Faustus in the same year.  In 2004, Benji’s 2nd solo album, ‘Half a Fruit Pie’, was released, this time on the Fellside label. In the same year, Folk/funk/jazz/soul big band, Bellowhead was formed and Benji was a founder member. With an appearance on BBC TV’s ‘Later’ and performances everywhere from the Royal Opera House to the Shepherd’s Bush Empire, the band has gone from strength to strength. They are headlining festivals in the UK and in Europe and, following in St Etienne’s footsteps, have recently been named as Band in Residence at London’s South Bank Centre for 2008.

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