Once I wanted to be an artist, a painter. Alas, it wasn't to be. No tragic accident though, oh no. Instead, I discovered that I could earn money from being a little precocious and singing a tune or two. More than this though, I discovered the guitar and the rest is history.......

I remember it well, a cousin's wedding. I was about seven years old and from what I am told, was quite an energetic child who loved attention. From there came my first performance, a rendition of classic 70's hits including Little Jimmi Osmand's Long Haired Lover From Liverpool and Blockbuster from The Sweet. I got paid ten pence for singing and I was hooked. Within four years I would be treading the boards, albeit some of the real spit and sawdust pubs and clubs of the Midlands. Little did I know that the unnerving belief of a child, awe inspired by those wonderful cabaret acts at the Southend Working Men's Club in Stafford would be realised at such a tender age. I have my dad to thank for that, for without our visits to the club, I might have never got into music the way that I did.



Anyway, along with my brothers, the next eight years or so were spent playing in the clubs and pubs of the Midlands. A mixture of 60's, 70's and 80's (the current pop hits of the time) music meant that I got a good grounding as a singer and bass guitaristin many musical styles. Indeed, gigging once or twice a week for those years meant that by the time I moved onto other things at the age of eighteen I had done enough gigging to last a life time. It wasn't all pints of mild and pork scratchings though. By the time I was fourteen,   I realised   that although I could 'speak the language of music', I wanted to know how to read and write. So there began my study of music theory and practice. Despite passing my Grade VIII, age seventeen,   I knew that learning the classical guitar from records and tapes was (so poor was my ability to read music)not on.



Since then, much time has been spent studying music and filling in those unnecessary gaps. My session playing was definitely helped by my performing and studying schedule. Nonetheless, after playing with many outfits since the age of eighteen,  including folk, jazz and 'pop' bands, all the knowledge of playing 'anything' and 'everything' wasn't enough to fill a hole in my creative ouput. So, since 2001 I began my 'serious' songwriting quest. Of course I had written before but the quality wasn't there. Maybe it was lack of confidence, too much immersion in other artists' music, I don't know, but for the last five years or so I can definitely say you are hearing the real Ben Reece in his songwriting.   And that is what this website is about. There are links to help you access my music. I will also keep you updated on my teaching as this is a major part of my working life. Oh yes, I haven't forgot the gigging either, although this time it is just me, my guitar and a little wizordry from my live sampling.






Current track playing titled Weekend