Hi, All --

I hope everyone is enjoying their summer so far. Mine has been quite busy. I have a new day job in the music business which is a lot of fun and taking up many of my hours…but I do still have my nights and weekends free for my own music, so here’s the scoop on that:

TWO GREAT SHOWS THIS WEEKEND

I have two great shows this weekend; one on Saturday, 7/25 and the other on Sunday, 7/26. The show on Saturday is at a wonderful café in Putnam, CT. The venue is called Victoria Station Café and it is one of my favorite places to play in New England. The crowd is always attentive and friendly, which makes it a nice place to play, and the food and service is top notch too, so it’s not too hard for me to promote my performances there. I will start around 8 PM and play a couple of sets. It’s a FREE show and you can find out more about VSC by visiting their website here: http://www.victoriastationcafe.com

The following afternoon, Sunday, I will be performing in Newburyport, MA at the annual Yankee Homecoming Festival. This is a great outdoor festival with numerous stages placed around the town and many vendors, including great food, that make it a fun summer event for everyone. Plus, Newburyport is a beautiful town right on the water, so you cannot beat the location. I will perform on the Market Square Stage from 3:00 PM until 5:00 PM, give or take a few minutes for setup and breakdown, and I hear the weather is supposed to be good so keep your fingers crossed! Have a look at their website here: http://www.yankeehomecoming.com

NEW VIDEOS ON YOUTUBE

I have finally uploaded 8 videos of my trio’s performance on the Greenfield, MA TV show "Valley Homegrown" to my YouTube Channel. The songs include a mixture of originals from my first disc "Nowhere To Go But Up" and "Rich With Love" including, "Ithaca," "You Get Rid of The Bad," "Thank You," "Up At The Top," and a few more. Take a look at the videos, give them a rating, and leave your comments! I would love to hear what you think. My YouTube channel is located here: http://www.youtube.com/benwillmott

CD BABY HAS A NEW LOOK

CD Baby, the online store that I sell my CDs through, has a new feel to their website. They still have both of my releases for sale, so if you have not picked up a copy of "Nowhere To Go But Up" or "Rich With Love," then now is a great time to do so! Explore and try out their new website by heading over to http://www.cdbaby.com and buy a copy of one of my discs! I would truly appreciate it. Both releases are also available through Apple iTunes, if you prefer to get your music digitally.

NEW MUSIC ON THE WAY

Finally, I want to let you know that I am beginning to write some new tunes again. I have taken a bit of time off from the writing process to recharge the batteries, but now I am back at it. I hope to have a few new tunes finished by the end of the summer and plan on performing them at my shows shortly after. I will keep you posted on this and new release plans that I have in the near future.

In the meantime, I would like to let you know that I am in the process of finishing up two of the tracks which did not make it on to "Rich With Love," but were recorded in those sessions. My good friend, and past bass player/producer Wesley Cole (who is also featured in the videos on YouTube) will be working on the mixing and mastering of these tracks. More information to come on this soon…

Thanks for all of the support. I hope to see you out at the shows.

Best Regards,

Ben Willmott

Official Site -- http://www.benwillmottmusic.com
Rich With Love -- http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/willmott4
Nowhere To Go But Up -- http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/willmott3

Hi, Everyone --

Thanks to your votes in the nomination stage of the 2009 Worcester Music Awards, my new album RICH WITH LOVE, has been nominated for BEST CD!!

In order to actually take home the award for BEST CD...I will need you to please vote again!

The link to the site is:

http://www.thepulsemag.com../wordpress/index.php

When you reach the site, please click on the logo, which is on the right hand side of the page, that says "2009 Worcester Music Awards."

The category for Best CD is number two on the list. When you see "Ben Willmottt 'Rich With Love' " click the little box next to it on the left. Then don't forget to hit "SUBMIT" at the bottom of the page!!

Thanks so much for all the support!! Please please please vote now and tell your friends to do so too!!

Best,

Ben

Hello:

I hope you are having a good 2009 thus far!

First of all, the show a couple of weekends ago at The Asgard was great. There was a terrific crowd who came out despite the freezing temperature outside, so thanks to those who were there! We'll be back at The Asgard again on Saturday, February 21st. If you have not been to a show at The Asgard, then you should definitely try to make it. They have a wonderful menu and drink list, it's right in the heart of Central Square, Cambridge, making it quite easy to get to, and the best part of it all is that there is NEVER a cover charge at the door. That's right, it is ABSOLUTELY FREE! We start at 10 PM sharp, so get there early and make a night of it. This is our only show this month. My group and I have been tightening up our repertoire a bit...concentrating solely on these Boston dates for a couple of months, but we'll be hitting the road this spring and summer so hopefully you can see us somewhere out there, if you are not within driving distance  of Boston. Please continue to check the TOUR page on my site for the most current performance dates.

In the meantime, I am working hard to get nominated for a few 2009 Worcester Music Awards! If you have a chance, would you please visit their website and nominate me? The link to the website is: http://www.thepulsemag.com and when you arrive at the home page, click on the link to the right that says "2009 Worcester Music Awards - Ready? Set... Nominate!" Once you get to the nomination page, please nominate me (if you think that I am worthy, of course) for Best CD (put "Ben Willmott - Rich With Love"), Best Male Vocalist, Best Pop Act, and Best Live Act. I do not believe that you need to fill in all of the nomination fields (there are a lot of them), but if you know of any other performers in the area who would be good nominations, then go ahead and put them in too! I am not sure what will happen with this, but it's worth a shot, right??!! Thanks so much for taking the time to do this. I would really appreciate it.

Some of you might remember that over the holidays, I took all of the proceeds from the sale of my song "Here & Now" and donated them to three great causes: New Orleans Habitat for Humanity, The Humane Society of Louisiana, and National Resource Defense Council. I called the project the "Here & Now Fund." Well, it turned out great! The amounts that I donated in the end were not HUGE, but every little bit helps. The organizations wrote me letters thanking me and everyone who bought the song, saying that our assistance would be felt far and wide. SO, thank YOU all for buying "Here & Now" and contributing to these great causes. I hope to continue with the "Here & Now Fund" one way or another in 2009. If you have any suggestions on how we can develop this project further, then please let me know!

I read an article in Rolling Stone last week about how 2008 CD sales were WAY down and digital sales were WAY up. Not too surprising actually, but it was interesting. Things are changing rapidly in the music business and I have also noticed that people are not purchasing physical CDs as much as they are downloading songs from digital outlets like Apple iTunes. If you have not already purchased one of my two physical CDs or digital versions of the CDs, then please check them out at Apple iTunes. The music is also available from CD Baby for those of you who still like to have the physical product (I am included in that group!). The links for the discs are as follows:

RICH WITH LOVE

Apple iTunes
CD Baby

NOWHERE TO GO BUT UP

Apple i Tunes
CD Baby

If you purchase a copy of either CD by the end of March, then I will gladly mail you a signed promotional poster (WAHOO!) and a copy of my new-ish DVD "Live On Valley Homegrown" for FREE! The DVD contains eight songs that my group performed on a TV show in Greenfield, MA last April. Once you purchase either album, shoot me back an email at this address and let me know. I will mail the poster and DVD separately.

Finally, I want to tell you a little about what I am now calling the "Ben Willmott 5 or More Deal." If you either bring 5 or more NEW people to one of my performances or introduce 5 or more NEW people to my mailing list, then I will send you FREE stuff! For now, if you do either of these wonderful things for me, then I will mail you a signed promotional poster and a copy of the DVD mentioned above. Just email me the names and email addresses of the people who you are introducing to my mailing list or come up to me at a show and say "Hey Ben, I brought five new friends with me!" Then, I'll simply give you the free stuff! It's as easy as that.

That's all for now. Thanks so much for your continued time and attention. I  hope to see you at The Asgard in a couple of weeks.

Be Well,

Ben Willmott

http://www.benwillmottmusic.com

Dear Everyone:

I wanted to take a moment to wish you all a happy, healthy, and prosperous 2009. I have a feeling that this is going to be a good year. Change is in the air and in this case, I feel that it will be a good change. There are a lot of things going wrong in the world today and I hope that my music can provide some sort of positive energy for you in your life. Please be in touch about anything that's on your mind -- I would love hearing from you.

All the best,

Ben Willmott

Here's the latest review of RICH WITH LOVE. It's from EvolutionOfMedia.com; they reviewed my first disc, so I thought I'd send the new one to them too!


Rich With Love
Ben Willmott
Pop

Four out of Five Stars

There was a time, in the wild and wacky world of pop and roll, in which musical variety in recording artists was not considered a negative. You know, it was a time when people like Elton John, Billy Joel, James Taylor, hell even Eric Clapton, would pepper their pure pop (or rock) with other genres of music like country, jazz, or (heaven forbid) reggae. Well, singer-songwriter Ben Willmott remembers, and proves it on his second release Rich With Love.

Like 2006's Nowhere To Go But Up, Rich With Love is chock full of pop/rock goodness that harks back to the good-old-days when music had some substance. Now, this album is no mere nostalgia trip for old fogies like me who refuse to acknowledge current music: Willmott may have succeeded in creating songs that carry strong reminders of Joel ("Rich With Love", "Under the Radar"), Joe Jackson ("Here & Now"), Gordon Lightfoot ("It's Only Me") and Taylor ("Up at the Top" among others), but he's got a modern sensibility that puts him firmly in the 21st century. As for the versatility: Willmott rocks out prog rock style on "Under the Radar", while giving "Alabama" the kind of film-score/Tin Pan Alley-pop approach that Randy Newman excels at. 

In essence, Rich With Love takes more chances and expands upon the foundation laid by Nowhere To Go But Up, while simultaneously exposing Ben Willmott as singer-songwriter who deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as the Jackson Brownes, Elvis Costellos and Rufus Wainwrights of the world. Get this album now!

Written By: Gina Morris

Dear Friends:

I am so excited to announce that my new album, RICH WITH LOVE, is now
for available sale exclusively through CD Baby! Those of you who
pre-ordered the album should have your copy or copies by now, so if
you don't please be sure to let me know! I would be thrilled to hear
your thoughts after you have listened and when you get a moment to
write to me.

After countless hours of recording, arranging, writing, producing,
playing, singing, and stressing out...the release of my new album is
finally here. I have been waiting for a long time to get this
fourteen-track album out and into your CD player. There is really
nothing more that I can say about this project except that I hope you
will order a copy of it. Please visit the wonderful company CD Baby to
purchase RICH WITH LOVE:

www.cdbaby.com/cd/willmott4

For other ways to order a copy of the disc, like by sending in a
check, then shoot me back an email and I will gladly send you all of
the details.

Have a look at the first review that I received last week of the new
album! It was written by Jeffrey Kurtis at Guestlist Magazine.

"Ben Willmott's music first found it's way to my hands via his debut
release, "Nowhere To Go But Up," and the minute I hit play on that EP
I was hooked. So, when I found out that he had a new album coming out
my anticipation was at an all time high and as soon as I hit play on
"Rich With Love," and the album opener "Up at the Top" kicked in
complete with the groovy piano based pop rock that originally hooked
me on his music, I was sold again. As you press forward what you
quickly will start to discover is that Willmott has honed in on his
craft and taken his sound to a whole new level on this album. From the
slower based songs like "Alabama" and "Emily," both which beg to be
compared to Billy Joel all the way through to the pop driven songs
like "Ithaca" and the rocking "My Side," I dare you to put this album
on and not be in love with Ben Willmott's music. This is an artist to
keep on watching and I suspect he is going to have a break out year
backing this well crafted album. If you are a fan of artists like Ben
Folds, Billy Joel, etc. then this is a must have CD for your
collection."

The album release show is ON for THIS Saturday, June 14th at 10:00
PM. It is going to be at The Asgard in Central Square Cambridge and
absolutely, completely, one hundred percent FREE. That is, until you
buy a copy of the new disc which will be on sale at this show! My good
friend Paul Canetti will be coming up from New York City to open with
an acoustic set of his original tunes. It's going to be a special
night, so I hope that you can make it.

Finally, I have started to promote my summer tour dates! All of the
shows for the summer have been listed on my website, so please be sure
to look and see if I will be in your area this July or August. This is
by far the largest tour that I have done ever, so I would love to have
you at one, or more, of the performances.

Thanks so much for your support! I hope that you will order a copy of
my new CD. I am very proud of it and truly believe that you will enjoy
what you hear.

Best Regards,

Ben Willmott

www.benwillmottmusic.com

If you have been meaning to come to a show of mine, then this is the one to come to!

My album release show for RICH WITH LOVE is this SATURDAY, JUNE 14TH at THE ASGARD in CENTRAL SQUARE, CAMBRIDGE.

It's going to be a great night of music with my friend Paul Canetti starting it off with a set of solo acoustic music at 10 PM. My band and I will take the "stage" around 10:30 PM or so. This is a 100% absolutely FREE show.

My new album will be available for sale at the performance for $10.

I really hope you can come and I really hope that you will pick up a copy of the disc. I think you'll like it!

All The Best,

Ben W.

As you can see, I've jazzed up the MySpace layout a little bit (thanks to my good friends Simon and David for the help!) AND uploaded THREE new songs from RICH WITH LOVE! Check them out! This is the debut of these songs...I really hope you like them. The pre-sales have been shipped, so if you ordered a copy (or copies!) of the album, then you should get them in the mail early next week. Thanks so much for the support.

I have lots of work to do this weekend, so that's all for now!

Best,

Ben

PS - I'm so excited right now!!!!!!!!!!

Copies of the new album have arrived!! Pre-sales will be shipped today and it will soon be available online through CD Baby and Apple iTunes. I hope you will all get a copy -- I really think you will like what you hear!

Thanks so much for the support.

Ben

I am thrilled to announce that my sophomore release "Rich With Love" is due out on May 30th, 2008! Featuring 14th brand news songs, this album is filled with lush string and horn arrangements, solid drum grooves, catchy guitar lines, smooth vocals, and hooky piano riffs. The songs are a bit more experimental, but still the same simple straight-forward pop-rock songs that were on my last EP "Nowhere To Go But Up." For more information, email me at ben@benwillmottmusic.com and I’ll send you all the details on the pre-sales for this album. I cannot wait for you all to hear what I’ve been working on for the past year!

Best,

Ben