Ben Hammond: Vocals, Vocal Percussion, Guitar/Octaver, Live-Looping, Songwriting
Sandi Grecco: Drumset
April 2nd, 2013 performance of Ben’s original tune “Worst Kind of Perfect”. All elements of this performance are played and looped live with no pre-recorded tracks or samples.
Ben is playing a Taylor T5 through a Boss OC-3 Octaver Pedal and a Boomerang III Loop Station.
Ben Hammond: Vocals, Vocal Percussion, Guitar/Octaver, Live-Looping.
April 2nd, 2013 performance of Radiohead’s epic song “Paranoid Android”. All elements of this performance are played and looped live with no pre-recorded tracks or samples.
Ben is playing a Taylor T5 through a Boss OC-3 Octaver Pedal and a Boomerang III Loop Station.
Ben Hammond: Vocals, Vocal Percussion, Guitar/Octaver, Live-Looping, Songwriting
Sandi Grecco: Drumset
April 2nd, 2013 performance of Ben’s original tune “Touch”, with just a hint of Prince’s “Kiss”. All elements of this performance are played and looped live with no pre-recorded tracks or samples.
Ben is playing a Taylor T5 through a Boss OC-3 Octaver Pedal and a Boomerang III Loop Station.
Ben Hammond: Vocals, Vocal Percussion, Guitar/Octaver, Live-Looping, Songwriting
Sandi Grecco: Drumset
April 2nd, 2013 performance of Ben’s original tune “Hipster Juliet”, featuring a mini verse from Skee-Lo’s “I Wish”. All elements of this performance are played and looped live with no pre-recorded tracks or samples.
Ben is playing a Taylor T5 through a Boss OC-3 Octaver Pedal and a Boomerang III Loop Station.
Article in “Siesta Sand” by Mike Sales
Good friend and local musician Mike Sales just published an article in the Siesta Sand publication interviewing me with a focus on my role as host of the SKOB Open Mic Jam, which I host every Tuesday night from 7-11pm. Take a read through, it’s so great to have people like Mike propping up the local music scene!
Also, speaking of local music scene, I was extremely fortunate tonight to play at the famous Skipper’s Smokehouse with Sandi Grecco on drums and my loop pedals. Here is the setlist as best as I can remember:
PLEASE CONFIRM BEFORE GOING! Some of these listings may be outdated and are constantly changing.
Tuesdays
Wednesdays
Thursdays
Sundays
Mondays
Why I Put Together This List:
Sarasota, FL is a really great city for music, especially considering it’s relatively small size. I have so many friends that are making a living playing music in a way that is simply not possible in other parts of the country. Yes, there are huge problems with the city’s and county’s noise ordinances. Yes, the bigger established clubs can be a little “covers” oriented. However, people like the NoiseOrdinanceCD.com project are making big progress on both these accounts, and every year I return to find a new crop of incredible musicians moving into town or making their way onto the circuit. I’ve been extremely lucky to take over as host at the long-running SKOB Open Mic.
It has been an incredible way for me personally to network, shed new tunes, ‘audition’ new potential players, and test my skills as a bandleader. More importantly, it functions as a type of an incubator for musicians, combining new players to town, older players looking to get back into it, guitarists who don’t sing with singers who don’t play, etc. I have been honored to help guide this process as both an observer and a participant.
In this spirit, I have compiled the above list of Open Mics and Open Jams in Sarasota, in the hopes of encouraging developing musicians, budding songwriters, traveling professionals form out of town, and established players seeking the final piece of their band ‘puzzle’. Whether you’re a pro with a night off, an amateur seeking improvement from an encouraging audience, or a music lover who understands the “next big thing” is probably actually tuning his guitar in your local bar down the street, come out and support local music at some of these events and let’s keep this one big awesome happy musical family.
Much love! Come say hi on Tuesday!
Ben
Some nice ink from the Ticket / Sarasota Herald Tribune for a gig I played last week with Human Condition, one of the nicest bands in town.
“‘Original Music Showcase’ featuring some of Florida’s most accomplished talent. The lineup includes beat-boxing, loop-pedaling, soul-drenching Sarasota songwriter Ben Hammond who, along with HC frontman Dean Johaneson, just rocked out the C&B last weekend as part of the Noise Ordinance 3 CD Release Party.”
Hey everybody! Check out these sweet new videos I just made with Jimmy Scott Jr on Siesta Key, FL at his studio The Dub Shack. These were both recorded on a Canon 7d and Canon t3i, audio recorded out of a Bose T1 into a Zoom H4n. I’m using a Taylor T5, Upright Bass and Shure Beta 87a into a Boomerang III Loop Station. The guitar is also routed through a Boss OC-3 Octave Pedal, a Sparkle Drive and an Analog Delay.
The first was one of my favorite Radiohead songs that I finally learned how to play a couple months ago, “Paranoid Android”. I was really inspired by some of the awesome covers of this song that are out there, including Weezer’s note-for-note cover, the reggae version by the Easy Dub All-Stars, and specifically Thom Yorke’s solo in concert version. The song is so multi-textured and epic in it’s nature it gave me a lot of room to play with all my toys (looping my voice, heavy delay on the guitar, bowing the bass, etc). Hope you enjoy this one:
I also am super excited to introduce you to one of my newest original songs, “Hipster Juliet (You Can Tell)”. If you’ve seen me live recently you’ve probably heard this one (and hopefully shaken your badonkadonk 
) Big thanks again to Jimmy and Becca for putting these together!
Ben Hammond and Matt Gerhardt and Ben's Moustache Rockin Out!
Ben Hammond Band with Jefe and JW rockin' at the North Bridge Tavern
