Concert News

Benjamin Folke Thomas Announces New Album & UK Tour

3rd Sep 2018

BENJAMIN FOLKE THOMAS

NEW ALBUM // MODERN MAN // NOVEMBER 9TH

NOVEMBER UK TOUR DATES ANNOUCNED (Full band)

“A precocious acoustic finger-picker, fearlessly confessional as a songwriter” MOJO

“…the missing link between between Johnny Cash and Ingmar Bergman” 8/10 – UNCUT

“stunning playing… his finger-picking is the best you will ever hear” Q MAGAZINE

“stands out like Oliver Reed at an AA meeting” GUARDIAN

Scandinavian-born singer Benjamin Folke Thomas is excited to announce the release of his new studio album Modern Man, due for release on November 9, 2018 on Aveline Records. Full of sardonic tales of love, hate and double standards, this impressive fourth release was recorded in just two days in Studio Panikangest in Gothenburg, ft Johannes Mattsson (bass), Henning Sernhede (guitar) and Erik Berndtsson (drums).

The ten songs on Modern Man draw from Folk, Country and the blues, to reveal the inner thoughts of a songwriter torn between supreme self-confidence and fear of the future.

Folke Thomas was born in the coldest winter recorded in modern day history in Gothenburg; perhaps his obsession for sad, lamenting country songs was inevitable; and grew up on a secluded island off the coast of Sweden, populated by mainly evangelical Christians. However, Ben never found God. He discovered grunge music instead, and at the age of 11 he was playing drums in a punk band before turning to Folk and Americana music after seeing Kurt Cobain’s performance of ‘In The Pines’ on Unplugged. Steeping himself in Leadbelly, Dylan, and Leonard Cohen, by the age of 20 he was an accomplished finger-picker, confident performer, and mature songwriter.

Ben released his first studio album Too Close To Here in 2013 and its follow-up Rogue State of Mind came two years later. Recorded with the same Swedish band in their studio in an old warehouse, and released on Bucketful of Brains, it caught the ear of BBC Radio 2’s Bob Harris who invited Ben to Nashville as part of BBC Introducing. His third studio album Copenhagen, released in 2017, won rave reviews and was followed with a live album, Acoustic Classics, later last year.

This time he adopted a different approach. “I wanted it to be recorded quickly and I wrote a lot of songs on the piano for the first time. I wanted to get away from just writing about myself and my broken heart and all that sort of thing – or at least to do it by taking the piss out of myself with sardonic humour.”

www.benfolkethomas.com // @benfolkethomas

Benjamin Folke Thomas – Modern Man Tracklisting

1. Tasteless & Complacent
2. One Day
3. Stuff Of Dreams
4. Dead Horizon
5. Lily Like A Gunslinger
6. One More Chance
7. Some People
8. Modern Man
9. Nature Of My Ways

BEN FOLKE THOMAS 2018 UK TOUR DATES

SEPTEMBER 2018 SOLO SUPPORT DATES:

September 11th Leicester (supporting John Murry)
September 12th Hyde Park book Club – Leeds (supporting John Murry)
September 13th Borderline – London (supporting Hawksley Workman)
September 14th – Naked lunch – Liverpool (supporting John Murry)
September 15th – Ty Pawb – Wrexham (supporting John Murry)
September 16th – Broadcast – Glasgow (supporting John Murry)
September 17th – Edinburgh – Sneaky Petes (supporting John Murry)
September 18th – Telfords Warehouse – Chester (supporting John Murry)

NOVEMBER HEADLINE TOUR (FULL BAND)

Wednesday 21st November – The Castle Hotel, Manchester
http://glasswerk.co.uk/concerts/gig/13677/Benjamin+Folke+Thomas-The+Castle+Hotel,+Manchester/
Thursday 22nd November – The White Hart, Corby
www.wegottickets.com/event/446267
Friday 23rd November – The Prince Albert, Stroud
www.theprincealbertstroud.co.uk/event/benjamin-folke-thomas-3/
Saturday 24th November – Railway Inn Winchester
www.railwayinn.pub/show/benjamin-folke-thomas-full-band/
Sunday 25th November – Lexington London
www.wegottickets.com/greennote/event/443354
Monday 26th November – Kitchen Garden Café Birmingham (solo show)
www.wegottickets.com/event/444842