Ben Caplan is an intensely captivating eccentric. His striking exterior of unkempt hair, wild beard and thick glasses are almost as identifiable as the earthy guttural tones of his char-grilled vocals.
Rugged, raspy, and roaring with burly charisma, Canada’s Ben Caplan is to folklore what smoke is to bourbon - perfectly coupled.
Ben has already achieved notable success in his native country. He was recently nominated for 6 Nova Scotia Music Awards, and has been invited to play alongside some of the industry’s top names.
However, apart from the few lucky enough to see him live at one-off shows and the occasional festival, Ben Caplan is still relatively undiscovered in the UK.
That’s all set to change with the announcement of his debut album 'In the Time of the Great Remembering' plus his first full tour of the UK in October and November - having received a personal invitation from Katzenjammer to open for them. This forms part of his larger 38 date EU tour.
Ben is the archetypal, consummate touring musician. His perpetual self-fuelled musical plane, train and automobile escapades across North America, Europe and back again are drawing increasingly excited crowds.
From city to city, state to state, country to country, he is sparking the attention of influential blogs, radio stations and music lovers worldwide - leading to more and more festival bookings the world over, such as the famed SXSW in Austin, Texas, Hamburg’s Reeperbahn Festival and the UK’s Great Escape. Not to mention his healthy devoted following on youtube.
It’s the blues in his soul, and the heart-in-your-throat pounding as one that make Ben Caplan and his band of ‘Casual Smokers’ such a beguiling act.
The music is diverse, ranging from poetic ballads to frenetic gypsy anthems, and his depth and musicianship are evident even in the roughest of bar room stomps. Striding in pace with sea-shanty strings are sultry clarinets and saxophones, untamed percussion, upright bass, violin, flute, and all-inclusive bellow-along choruses.
Ben himself breaks between guitar, banjo, piano, and melodica, all of which helps Caplan & Co stand out from the masses influenced by the same sounds.
In his own words: "This album is a journey through both intensely personal and hypothetical experiences. It’s a ride through my psyche and imagination and a vast jumble of musical styles from Folk and Roots to Gypsy and Klezmer genres."
Ben’s songwriting is as bold in range as it is in ferocity. Charged with a quality of melodrama and powerful lyricism, it’s the romance and the manhood crashing within his voice that give Caplan a truly inventive artistry.
His is a sound that bridges the gap between controlled composition and unruly passion.