with Joel Ceballos and Kendra McKinley
Ben Slavin is an American folksinger who is based in Naples, Italy. He graduated in voice(opera) from Arizona State University and soon after moved to Milan to continue his studies as a dramatic baritone. While he was in Milan he met Odette Di Maio, ex-frontwoman on the group “Soon” and formed the folk-pop duo “The March”. After recording an EP they toured around Europe and the US performing in more than 100 venues including the CBGB Acoustic Lounge and at the prestigious Arezzo Wave Festival in Tuscany. They also appeared on various radio programs like “The Joey Reynolds Show” (with 8 million listeners) and for the famous critic Larry Flick (Billboard,Rolling Stone) on Sirius Radio. He then moved to Naples where he has lived for the past ten years and recently recorded his debut album “Palepolis” in the 17th century basilica of San Severo. “Palepolis” is a song cycle which speaks about his experience of living in this fascinating, dark and often overlooked Southern Italian city. Most of the songs are based on various places,myths and personal stories that range from politics (Palepolis) to metropolitan myths (Lucia Lies in Purgatory) or simply about his own life (As We Grow Older, Tie and Bound). Ben Slavin sings about Naples from the point of view of an American expat using the musical language he is most familiar with; American folk. This is an album that encompasses every aspect of living in this overwhelmingly beautiful yet tormented city. “Palepolis” gives us an inside look into a metropolis which boasts a 3,000 year history but with over-romanticizing it’s troubled present.