Ben Carroll, guitarist for the band RA, born in November 19th 1976, originally hails from Salisbury, MA. He grew up in a home rich with rock music.... Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, the Police, the Doors, Black Sabbath, U2 were all played often. Early on, he took an interest in the music jumping off the couch to "rawkkk!" He soon started playing music, beginning with the trumpet in the 3rd grade, quickly switching to piano. At the age of 11, he received an acoustic guitar as a gift from his uncle. With that fateful gift Carroll discovered his passion and soared never looking back. After graduating from Triton Regional High School in 1994, Carroll honed his "chops" while attending Berklee College of Music in Boston. Despite the intense studying, he compares his experience at the prestigious school to "…being in Disneyland every day." But, the temptation of taking a stab at the rock-n-roll big time was exceedingly intense. It was a temptation that eventually drove him to leave Disney for the Hollywood Hills to try his luck in the scene that produced bands like Motley Crue and the Doors. Finding the L.A. scene unproductive for over a year Ben realized that the real rock scene was back in his home state of Massachusetts. Bands like Godsmack and Staind were starting to make big waves in the same clubs where he attended shows growing up. So he packed it in and headed back home, and before long, formed the band Absence of Faith with vocalist and local scene veteran Jimmy Garrity. Garrity would later take a hand in the rise of RA. For the next few years Carroll & Garrity played the local scene in MA & NH.
In the fall of 2001 Absence of Faith disbanded and Ben began the painful search for a new band. In January of 2002, after months of fruitless and frustrating searching, Ben stumbled upon an internet ad posted by a New Jersey band named RA.
"I took one listen to Sahaj's vocals and knew this gig was mine. So I drove down, auditioned and got the gig."
With RA now having released three full length studio albums and a live album, the band is still a large part of Carroll’s life. RA continues to grow and prosper worldwide, Ben is also putting the final touches on an instrumental album that he has been casually tinkering with over the last few years, or
"…whenever inspiration hits….It was always a childhood dream of mine to release an album that follows in the footsteps of guys like Joe Satriani and Steve Vai. I am totally psyched to finish this record and finally realize that dream!"
The solo album ("A Dream Between Two Fires") will be released on the 23 of June 2009.
Besides his recording ventures, Ben has also been teaching guitar off and on for almost 15 years now. Currently, he is teaching guitar throughout most of New England. With the many years of experience and schooling under his belt, Ben continually seeks new ways to engage each student. He custom designs each lesson with the pupil in mind ~ not just lecturing out of a Guitar 101 book.
"I try to follow the direction that the student is most interested in…whether it is technique, song writing and recording, theory…whatever, but eventually I try to tie them all together."
With New England being too small for the aspirations of a rock star. Ben is gearing up to take his instruction international with the launch of an online music instruction website, the American Rockstar Academy (A.R.A.).He is co-founding this ground breaking site, with Shadows Fall guitarist Jon Donais and world renown vocal coach Jaime Vendera. A.R.A. will offer live, 1 on 1, music instruction with successful musicians, such as Donais, Vendera < Carroll, via a web cam.
"It is going to be an amazing opportunity for people that want to learn their instrument from the musicians that they look up to. I wish I had an opportunity like this as a kid!"
With the launching of his first solo record and an instructional website, 2009 is looking to be a great year for the RA guitarist.
DISCOGRAPHY:
Updated 2/6/2009
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Ben Carroll | Love Undercover | 2002 | |
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RA | From One | 2002 | |
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RA | Duality | 2005 | |
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RA | Raw | 2006 | |
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Ben Carroll | Real Thing | 2007 | |
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RA | Black Sun | 2008 | |
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Ben Carroll | Dream Between Two Fires | 2009 | |
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RA | Black Sheep | 2009 |
Updated 2/6/2009
For more information about Ben Carroll visit the following links:
www.myspace.com/bencarroll
www.myspace.com/ramusic
www.bencarrollmusic.com
www.ra-band.net
