Born and raised in Ontario, Ben Wilkins moved to Montreal, Quebec, at the age of eighteen, to study music at McGill University. He majored in Classical Trumpet and soaked up whatever he could regarding composition, arranging, singing, theory and jazz harmony – spending countless nights sneaking into the piano studios after hours to write songs. Upon graduation, Wilkins received a scholarship to study Mandarin in China, and spent the better part of a year at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music and the Beijing Language and Culture University. Upon his return to Montreal, speaking fluent Mandarin, he began to perform locally and in college and club shows in the north-eastern U.S.A. At around the same time he was approached by Pascal Shefteshy, an acclaimed engineer and producer working for Pierre Marchand (Sarah McLachlan, Rufus Wainwright) to record an album. They began working on Ben’s debut album, and just as their limited budget was running out, Pierre Marchand announced that he was going to India for three months. As an act of faith in Ben’s abilities, Marchand left the door to his studio open to Wilkins and Shefteshy, putting them in the position to record an album without compromise.
Aside from working on his own album, Wilkins has not sat idle: he recently answered James Di Salvio’s call to write string and brass arrangements on The Garden, Bran Van 3000’s fourth album. Ben also lends his vocal talents to a track on this album, singing lead vocals on This Day.
In February 2011, “Back Of My Head”, Ben’s first radio single, attained a BDS Top 50 position after only a few weeks of promotions and stayed on the Charts for over twenty weeks. The second single, “Through To You” was launched to radio in September and reached position number 6 on the Charts. The video of the song has also been added to the Musimax repertoire. Ben was invited to play live on the air on Musimax on Oct. 18, 2011.
Ben Wilkin’s self-titled debut album on Milagro Records in Stores across Canada October 18th, 2011.
Ben Wilkins
Born and raised in Ontario, Ben Wilkins moved to Montreal, Quebec, at the age of eighteen, to study music at McGill University. He majored in Classical Trumpet and soaked up whatever he could regarding composition, arranging, singing, theory and jazz harmony – spending countless nights sneaking into the piano studios after hours to write songs. Upon graduation, Wilkins received a scholarship to study Mandarin in China, and spent the better part of a year at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music and the Beijing Language and Culture University. Upon his return to Montreal, speaking fluent Mandarin, he began to perform locally and in college and club shows in the north-eastern U.S.A. At around the same time he was approached by Pascal Shefteshy, an acclaimed engineer and producer working for Pierre Marchand (Sarah McLachlan, Rufus Wainwright) to record an album. They began working on Ben’s debut album, and just as their limited budget was running out, Pierre Marchand announced that he was going to India for three months. As an act of faith in Ben’s abilities, Marchand left the door to his studio open to Wilkins and Shefteshy, putting them in the position to record an album without compromise.
Aside from working on his own album, Wilkins has not sat idle: he recently answered James Di Salvio’s call to write string and brass arrangements on The Garden, Bran Van 3000’s fourth album. Ben also lends his vocal talents to a track on this album, singing lead vocals on This Day.
In February 2011, “Back Of My Head”, Ben’s first radio single, attained a BDS Top 50 position after only a few weeks of promotions and stayed on the Charts for over twenty weeks. The second single, “Through To You” was launched to radio in September and reached position number 6 on the Charts. The video of the song has also been added to the Musimax repertoire. Ben was invited to play live on the air on Musimax on Oct. 18, 2011.
Ben Wilkin’s self-titled debut album on Milagro Records in Stores across Canada October 18th, 2011.