Time off sounded good to Grammy-nominated musician Ben Kweller after spending two years promoting his latest album, Go Fly A Kite. When Austin’s hottest band called on Kweller to produce their sophomore album and Shameless star William H. Macy invited the indie rocker to make his acting debut, Kweller realized there might not be such a thing as ‘time off’.
In early 2013, Kweller lent his production and arranging skills to the folkie quirk-pop outfit, Wild Child (appearing on The Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson on Monday, May 12), who have been taking the U.S. by storm, one rock club at a time. Kweller’s label, The Noise Company, released the band’s album, The Runaround, in late ’13. Around that time, Kweller stepped out of his comfort zone to begin work on the Macy-directed film, Rudderless. Rudderless is about a grieving father (Billy Crudup) who comes to terms with his son’s untimely death through songs his son wrote. For cathartic reasons, the father puts together a rock band to honor his son’s unknown music. Kweller plays the bass player, Willie, and joins other cast members such as Lawrence Fishburne, Felicity Huffman, Anton Yelchin, and Selena Gomez. This January, Rudderless made its debut as Sundance Film Festival’s closing film and was met with overwhelming acclaim. Last week Paramount Pictures announced that they will be releasing Rudderless in 2015.
Meanwhile, back in Austin, TX, Kweller has been writing and doing pop-up concerts with bassist Andrew Pressman and drummer Mike Meadows. “We’re like teenagers rocking out in the garage!” Kweller says. That youthful Rock ‘n’ Roll spirit has followed Kweller for over a decade now and it’s led him to book a handful of dates across the country. “We’re hopping in the van with one electric guitar, one bass guitar, and a drum set,” he says. “No piano, no acoustic … just raw and stripped down. It’s been a blast re-imagining songs like ‘Falling’ and ‘Thirteen’ on electric guitar.”
Kweller plans to announce west coast dates in the coming weeks as well. “This past year has been fun and inspiring with these different projects and all,” Kweller says. “But I’m happy to be focusing on my own stuff again. Life keeps rolling forward. New songs, new experiences. That vacation concept isn’t all that appealing anymore.” (laughs) “I still have so much I wanna give. No sleep ’til you’re dead, right?”
Ben Kweller will be making the following appearances throughout the summer. Tour dates below with more to follow.
APRIL
26 – Manor, TX – ThinkTanque Festival
MAY
03 – Spring, TX – Texas Crawfish Festival
05 – Annapolis, MD – Rams Head On Stage
06 – New York, NY – Bowery Ballroom
07 – Boston, MA – Brighton Music Hall
08 – Pawtucket, RI – The Met
09 – Washington DC – Rock and Roll Hotel
JUNE
14 – Uncasville, CT – Wolf Den at Mohegan Sun Resort
JULY
10 – Chicago, IL – Lincoln Hall
11 – Milwaukee, WI – Turner Hall
12 – Minneapolis, MN – Triple Rock Social Club
AUGUST
01 – Dallas, TX – Granada Theater
02 – Houston, TX – Fitzgerald’s Upstairs