Robert Johnson, Ray Charles, Elvis Presley, Bruce Springsteen, The Beatles, Eric Clapton, John Mayer, Fiest, Frank Sinatra, Ron Sexsmith, Coldplay, Merle Haggard, Tony Bennett, Johnny Cash, Sam Cooke, Michael Buble, Led Zepplin, Ottis Redding, and BB King.
Compared to the likes of Bruce Springsteen, Chris Cornell and Elvis Presley, Ben Cooper is considered one of Ottawa's finest singers/songwriters. As a one-man show, Ben is a full time producer, performer, musician and songwriter. His music has twangs of country mixed with catchy rock melodies, and bittersweet blues.
Ben Cooper's music career began at the age of 12 in his home town of Sudbury, Ontario where he taught himself to play guitar, piano, harmonica, and several stringed instruments. His influences were mostly rockabilly and country artists like Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash and the Stray Cats. Later, Ben came to appreciate artists like the Beatles, Led Zepplin, and Eric Clapton. He now finds appreciation in music that inspires musical inspiration and counts artists like Feist, John Mayer and Coldplay among them.
During his teen years, Ben was recruited to be the front man for many local rock bands in Sudbury and also took on acting roles such as the lead of Judas in the hit musical Jesus Christ Superstar receiving rave reviews and much local media attention. After college Ben moved to Ottawa, Ontario where he began performing in the local club scene. He helped form the band, "Stone Melodies" in 2001. The group became a local success, winning several awards for its original music. In 2003 the Stone Melodies won first place in the Ottawa competition for the International Emergenza Music Festival. Stone Melodies also came in 2nd place for the 2005 National Songwriting Competition, and got the opportunity to open for fellow Canadian bands Wide Mouth Mason and The Trews.
The Stone Melodies put out two full length CD’s and one EP from 2001 to 2006. After the band’s hiatus , Ben was given the opportunity to perform solo, write and produce his own material and was also invited in July 2007 to open for Canadian artist Jeff Martin (formerly of the Tea Party).
Ben has maintained an active performing schedule in Ontario, including performances at the famous Horseshoe Tavern in Toronto, and the Ottawa Blues Festival in the summer of 2007 and various club and pub venues in and around the province. In November 2007 Ben released his first solo EP "Integrity - An Intimate Acoustic Performance".
Performance and History Summary:
Performer at Cisco Systems Ottawa Bluesfest 2007
Opened for artists such as:
The Trews
Jeff Martin (Tea Party)
Wide Mouth Mason
5440
Trooper
Winner of CMW National Songwriting Competition 2005
hey! just wanted to stop in let you know that I've changed my artist name to Adrian Edward but it's still me, I'm not going anywhere! lol! have a great night much love ~adrian edward
