{"id":49625,"date":"2019-07-31T16:23:11","date_gmt":"2019-07-31T21:23:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/urbanmatter.com\/chicago\/?p=49625"},"modified":"2019-11-05T13:09:05","modified_gmt":"2019-11-05T18:09:05","slug":"ben-folds-on-his-history-with-chicago-his-new-book-a-dream-about-lightning-bugs-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/urbanmatter.com\/chicago\/ben-folds-on-his-history-with-chicago-his-new-book-a-dream-about-lightning-bugs-more\/","title":{"rendered":"Ben Folds On His History With Chicago, His New Book “A Dream About Lightning Bugs” & More"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ben Folds<\/a> is widely regarded as one of the major music influencers of today. Folds has created an enormous body of genre-bending music not only with Ben Folds Five but also via multiple solo albums and numerous collaborative records. His last album was a blend of pop-oriented songs and his “Concerto For Piano & Orchestra,” and it would soar to the #1 spot on both the Billboard classical and classical crossover charts. This commercial and critical success within the classical world has led Folds to perform concerts alongside some of the world\u2019s greatest symphony orchestras over the past decade. Notably, in 2017, Folds was named as the first-ever “Artistic Advisor” to the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center.<\/p>\n

Folds is also no stranger to television, having been featured for five seasons as a judge on NBC\u2019s critically-acclaimed a capella show The Sing Off<\/em> and appeared on the F\/X comedy You’re The Worst<\/em>. Also an avid photographer, Folds is a member of the prestigious Sony Artisans of Imagery, completing an assignment in 2017 as a photo editor for National Geographic. He was notably featured in a recent mini-documentary by the Kennedy Center\u2019s Digital Project on his photographic work. As if all of that was not enough, Folds<\/a> also served for over five years as an active member of the distinguished Artist Committee of Americans For The Arts (AFTA), is on the Board of AFTA\u2019s Arts Action Fund, and was also recently named Chairman of the Arts Action Fund\u2019s ArtsVote2020 national initiative to advocate for a greater commitment to the nation\u2019s creative economy through improved public policies for the arts and arts education.<\/p>\n

Yet the most recent artistic endeavor from Folds is his first book, A Dream About Lightning Bugs: A Life Of Music & Cheap Lessons<\/em><\/a>. Described as a collection of interrelated essays and anecdotes about art, life and music, the just-released A Dream About Lightning Bugs<\/em> is already a #1 Best Seller on Amazon. Published by Ballantine Books, the memoir was described by acclaimed singer\/songwriter Sara Bareilles as intelligent, curious, unapologetically punk, and funny as hell.\u201d<\/p>\n

I had the pleasure of speaking with Ben Folds himself by phone in July 2019 and below are a few highlights from that chat. A recording of the full interview with Folds will be appearing later this summer on the Paltrocast With Darren Paltrowitz<\/em> podcast. In the meantime, more on Ben Folds \u2014 including upcoming tour dates with the Violent Femmes \u2014 and the A Dream About Lightning Bugs<\/em> book can be found on his website<\/a>.<\/p>\n