Ben Cosgrove (born 30 January 1988) is an American composer and multi-instrumentalist from

Methuen, Massachusetts Methuen () is a 23 square mile (60 km2) city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 53,059 at the 2020 census. Methuen lies along the northwestern edge of Essex County, just east of Middlesex County and just south of ...

, whose work explores the intersection of sound and place.

Releases and recognition

His 2011 album, ''Yankee Division,'' is based on landscapes around New England, taking its name from the

Yankee Division Highway Route 128, known as the Yankee Division Highway, is a state highway in the U.S. state of Massachusetts maintained by the Highway Division of the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT). Spanning , it is one of two beltways (the othe ...

. In 2014, he released ''Field Studies'', an album exploring the wider American landscape, from the Sierra Nevada to the Everglades. In 2015, Cosgrove released a live album, ''Solo Piano'', which features recordings collected from performances in thirteen different states. His 2017 studio album, ''Salt'', is a concept record comparing landscapes of flux and ambiguity to personal tumult and emotional unrest. In February 2021, he announced a new album, ''The Trouble With Wilderness'', to be released in April of that year, and its lead single, "The Machine in the Garden." The album is said to focus on the built environment and everyday landscapes instead of remote or exotic places. Cosgrove told WBUR that "a lot of the album is abstractly about how there's still so much room for unpredictability, wildness and expression even within structures and situations that might seem rigid and artificial." In addition to his solo work, he often tours and records with other artists, including

The Ghost of Paul Revere The Ghost of Paul Revere are an American folk trio from Portland, Maine composed of Max Davis, Sean McCarthy and Griffin Sherry. The band made their national debut when they appeared as the musical guest on the TBS talk show, Conan, in January of ...

and

Darlingside Darlingside is a four-person indie folk band from Boston, MA. The band consists of Don Mitchell, Auyon Mukharji, Harris Paseltiner, and David Senft. Their style has been described as “exquisitely-arranged, literary-minded, baroque folk-pop� ...

. Cosgrove's landscape compositions are discussed in

Conor Knighton Conor Knighton (born February 1, 1981) is an American actor, host, and television producer. He is currently a correspondent for ''CBS Sunday Morning''. In 2016, Knighton launched "On The Trail," a year-long, cross-country look at America's Nati ...

's ''Leave Only Footprints'' (2020) and Matthew Doucet's ''You've Never Heard Your Favorite Song: 100 Deep Cuts to Make Your World Sound Better'' (2020). He has served as an artist-in-residence with the

Schmidt Ocean Institute Schmidt Ocean Institute (SOI) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit operating foundation established in March 2009 by Eric Schmidt and Wendy Schmidt. The Institute's goal is to advance innovative oceanographic research and discovery through technological adv ...

, the

New England National Scenic Trail The New England National Scenic Trail (NET) is a National Scenic Trail in southern New England, which includes most of the three single trails Metacomet-Monadnock Trail, Mattabesett Trail and Metacomet Trail. After the Metacomet-Monadnock-Mattabe ...

, the

Signet Society The Signet Society of Harvard University was founded in 1870 by members of the class of 1871. The first president was Charles Joseph Bonaparte. It was, at first, dedicated to the production of literary work only, going so far as to exclude debate ...

Isle Royale National Park Isle Royale National Park is an American national park consisting of Isle Royale – known as Minong to the native Ojibwe – along with more than 400 small adjacent islands and the surrounding waters of Lake Superior, in the state of Michigan. ...

Acadia National Park Acadia National Park is an American national park located along the mid-section of the Maine coast, southwest of Bar Harbor. The park preserves about half of Mount Desert Island, part of the Isle au Haut, the tip of the Schoodic Peninsula, and ...

, and

White Mountain National Forest The White Mountain National Forest (WMNF) is a federally managed forest contained within the White Mountains in the northeastern United States. It was established in 1918 as a result of the Weeks Act of 1911; federal acquisition of land had alrea ...

Literature

Cosgrove also writes nonfiction essays that touch upon place, sound, and art. His writing has appeared in Orion
Northern Woodlands
and other outlets.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cosgrove, Ben 1988 births American multi-instrumentalists New-age musicians Living people Harvard College alumni