Episode 37 - Ben Smith

Contra Pulse

The intro and interstitial tracks from today’s episode are Waiting for Recovery and Indiana Summer from the Mean Lids album Prairie Summer, First Chance (feat. Nightingale) and Glory (feat. Mean Lids) from the DR Shadow album Electro Contra and the DR Shadow single Day at the Beech.

See the Contra Pulse website for transcripts and more. Or click here to download the transcript directly.

And the Country Dance and Song Society for information about Contra and English country dance across the continent.

See and hear Ben Smith in action:

• Learn all about Ben’s amazing work as a digital-intermedia artist, composer, musician on his personal website
• Also check out his main musical projects
  • The Mean Lids
    • Here the trio plays a contra dance at Warren Wilson College in Asheville, NC with caller Hank Morris in 2014
    • And at Contrastock VI at Glen Echo in 2016
    • Check out this west coast scene at the Epicenter Dance Weekend in Mill Valley, CA in 2019
    • And here the Mean Lids play a beautiful set for their hometown radio station (104.5FM Live On The Scene with DJ BJ Clark) at the Rose Bowl Tavern in Urbana, Illinois in July, 2021
  • D. R. Shadow
    • D.R. Shadow performs at the Lake Eden-area Arts Festival (LEAF) in 2018
    • And here he is playing a Live Electro Contra at the Indianapolis Grove Haus with Nealium.

Some odds and ends mentioned in this interview:

• Ben made his mother cry by playing this tune
• He mentions the Sugar Hill dance weekend in Bloomington, IN, as an important venue and event for the Mean Lids
• Ithaca Roots:
  • Ben’s early mentor, Marty Blodgett of Ithaca, NY is seen here playing jazz fiddle at The Commons Bookstore in Ithaca
  • Here’s a recording from the Ithaca based band Cletus and the Barn Burners, an early influence of Ben’s
• You can hear this radio interview and performance with Ben’s early duo, Prairie Chicken Asylum with Matt Turino before Miriam Larson joined them to form the Mean Lids