TJ WEST Spotlight: Ben Reddell
By Kim Grant
Ben Reddell is very involved in the Los Angeles roots music community as a booker and promoter, partner in a record label, a music studio manager and as a musician—with his own band, and as support for several others. TJ West asks Reddell about the many hats that he wears.
You are involved in so many aspects of the Los Angeles music scene that it’s hard to figure out where to start asking questions. So, let’s go back to the beginning—the music. You’re originally from Texas. Did you play music while living there?
BR: I did. I played in a math rock style band called Blue Sidd Honey. But I was brought up in country, and that was where my musical compass always pointed. My cousins, (Noel and Hollin McKay) taught me to play guitar at 9, and those dude turned me on to country and folk. “Your the reason god made Oklahoma” was a major turning point for me.
When did you move to Los Angeles and what bands were you and are you involved
with here?
BR: I moved to LA in 2002, with aforementioned rock group, but that band only lasted a few months. I played in a few indie rock bands for a bit, and then with my buddy Matt Campbell, we started Welldiggers Banquet, which was a country thing. That’s how I met everybody in the country world. I then went on to bass in Leslie and the Badgers, and through that, I met a shit ton more people in this world. The 2000’s were a heady time for sure!
You are the booker for the outdoor stage at the weekly roots music show, The Grand Ole Echo and have been for a couple of years. How has the experience of being on the business end of music been for you? Has it taught you anything as a musician?
BR: Totally! Every week I get the pleasure of mixing sound for the bands on the porch. Which gives me an excellent opportunity to focus on what people are writing these days. I curated the entire Echo Park Rising Festival GOE stage (16 bands in total), and I got to hear songs from the best and brightest of the scene. It’s really cool to hear how classic country songwriting is back in focus, and that so many artists and fans are into what I’m into.
You are also a manager at the widely known music studio, Bedrock L.A. in Echo
Park. The studio describes itself as “Disneyland for musicians.” What are some of
the more memorable workdays that you’ve had there?
BR: Golly, meeting Jackson Browne was really great. It’s rad, I work with musicians all day, and working with like-minded people I think is crucial to happiness. The reason I really do it, is because I wanted to give something back to the musical community. When I first moved to LA, everywhere I went, people were dicks to me. Our society loves music, but hates poor musicians. When we started Bedrock, the first and foremost precursor to that business for me was customer service. Treating all of our clients like they were Aerosmith, instead of the top down philosophy that some of our competitors have. I’m really proud of the work I’ve done there, the retail shop that I run (Muffin Man Music) has really taken off. In fact, we are the only musical retail game in town in Echo Park now. I get a lot of calls from bands at 11pm that need emergency stuff for their gigs at The Echo or The Satellite. Again, anyway that I can help bands do their thing is a labor of love.
You’ve recently re-established the formerly Texas-based, Medina River Records and
brought it to Los Angeles. Tell us a bit about the label and it’s goals.
BR: It’s going great! Our two artists, Rod Melancon and The Far West, are both out and doing their thing. I’m really proud of those two records (I played bass on Rods), I think they both are a great representation of how the LA country world sounds in their own rights respectively. At the label, we’re plotting for 2015, and I think we will have some good stuff coming out.
What’s up next for Ben Reddell?
BR: I’m working on a 7 inch with my good friend Maxim Ludwig, then an EP in 2015. I really feel the older I get, the better my songwriting gets. I’m just gonna keep working on being the best Ben Reddell out there.
Visit Ben Reddell online and on FB.
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