Ben Gunning - News/Shows

New Music Available (25/03/09)

Advance Digital Single - MAL DE MER + 2 - Available Now

Writing, rehearsing, and recording the material for this upcoming record has proven to be rather challenging and I am not yet complete. I have promised myself this will be the last time there will be 4 years between my records. Any fellow artists, though, might recognize the difficulty of progressing under the cumulative weight of life's responsibilities.

Mal de Mer (the album) is being co-produced, engineered, and mixed by Zack G and features my main group comprised of Robin Buckley (drums), Doug Friesen (bass), and Dafydd Hughes (piano). I thought I would provide a preview of the record by releasing a digital only single backed with another song from the record. Dave Ulrich at Zunior suggested I also offer a "single only" bonus track. I decided to approach Chris Cummings (Mantler) - one of my favorite songwriters since I discovered the record Landau (produced by Zack G) - about co-writing and recording a song together. Thus the third song, "Law of The Jungle". Writing and recording this was a real treat and the ease of the lyrical and musical collaboration was a pleasant surprise.

If you are interested, you can purchase the advance single: Mal De Mer/ On Their Dime/ Law of The Jungle HERE or you can listen to the tracks on the Listen/Purchase page.

NEWS		SHOWS
New Photos, Press, Podcast (09/02/10) There are some great photos of the Toronto record release show in "PHOTOS" by Adam Anklewicz as well as some press on the record in the "PRESS" section. Also, virtually enjoy my breakfast with Vish Khanna on the CBC podcast of "Breakfast Club" by clicking HERE.		Jun 11/10 : The Company House (w/ Charles Austin), Halifax, Nova Scotia Apr 21/10 : Kazoofest - E-Bar, Guelph, Ontario Apr 16/10 : East Village Arts Co-op, London, Ontario Mar 6/10 : As Part of Oldies 990 - Magpie, Toronto, Ontario Feb 20/10 : Kaffe 1870, Wakefield, Quebec with Geoffrey Pye (Yellow Jacket Avenger) Jan 29/10 : Record Release! Rivoli, Toronto Jan 23/10 : Record Release! Casa Del Popolo, Montreal Dec 9/09 : Group show with Thom Gill (& Co.) & Christine Bougie - Drake, Toronto July 6/09: Solo, acoustic - before Erin Costelo at The Cameron House, Toronto June 27/09: Zunior Records 5th Anniversary - The Tranzac, Toronto June 16/09: As Part of Swiss Dice - The Supermarket, Toronto
Mal de Mer Out Now! (19/01/10) My new record is out. For instant digital download of "Mal de Mer" or mail order CD bundled with an instant free MP3 copy of the album CLICK HERE.
Mal de Mer Full-Length Album Release! (24/12/09) My new record is finally in the can and mastered. The release date is January 19, 2010. Hard copies distributed nationally by Outside, digital version available through Zunior Records online. I will be adding upcoming shows in the "shows" section; so far I am playing a release show/party in Montreal and Toronto and will be adding further supporting shows as they are booked.
Film Composition (15/09/09) I contributed some music to the film A Child Escaped directed by Omar Odeh. It can be summarized as "... an immediate and ‘up-close’ experience of Palestinian refugee life. It describes the funny, poignant and devastating experiences of Palestinian youth in the Balata and Jenin refugee camps and the Voices Beyond Walls digital storytelling workshops conducted there." To learn more about the film, follow this link.
New Music Available (25/03/09) Advance Digital Single - MAL DE MER + 2 - Available Now Writing, rehearsing, and recording the material for this upcoming record has proven to be rather challenging and I am not yet complete. I have promised myself this will be the last time there will be 4 years between my records. Any fellow artists, though, might recognize the difficulty of progressing under the cumulative weight of life's responsibilities. Mal de Mer (the album) is being co-produced, engineered, and mixed by Zack G and features my main group comprised of Robin Buckley (drums), Doug Friesen (bass), and Dafydd Hughes (piano). I thought I would provide a preview of the record by releasing a digital only single backed with another song from the record. Dave Ulrich at Zunior suggested I also offer a "single only" bonus track. I decided to approach Chris Cummings (Mantler) - one of my favorite songwriters since I discovered the record Landau (produced by Zack G) - about co-writing and recording a song together. Thus the third song, "Law of The Jungle". Writing and recording this was a real treat and the ease of the lyrical and musical collaboration was a pleasant surprise. If you are interested, you can purchase the advance single: Mal De Mer/ On Their Dime/ Law of The Jungle HERE or you can listen to the tracks on the Listen/Purchase page.
New Website (16/03/09) In preparation of my upcoming album, Mal De Mer, I've built a new website. It is pretty bare bones as I'm not a web designer. My first site served me well and was beautifully put together by Rob Swift. My messages section, though, was hijacked by Viagra ads (do they really need to even advertise at this point?) and that became difficult to keep on top of so I took it as a sign to get moving. I will be adding more content to this in the upcoming weeks; I'm releasing an advance single this week and fleshing out the lyrics and listening sections, etc...