Ben Kyle (born 21 May 1981) is an Irish-American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He is best known as the lead singer and songwriter for the

Americana Americana may refer to: *Americana (music), a genre or style of American music *Americana (culture), artifacts of the culture of the United States Film, radio and television * ''Americana'' (1992 TV series), a documentary series presented by J ...

band Romantica. Kyle's singing style has been compared to those of

Tom Odell Thomas Peter Odell (born 24 November 1990) is an English singer-songwriter. He released his debut extended play, ''Songs from Another Love'', in 2012. It won the 2013 BRIT Awards, BRITs Critics' Choice Award in early 2013. Odell's debut studio ...

and

Ryan Adams David Ryan Adams (born November 5, 1974) is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, artist, and poet. He has released 23 albums, as well as three studio albums as a former member of alt-country band Whiskeytown. In 2000, Adams left ...

Early life

Ben Kyle was born in

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

but moved with his family to

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

, Minnesota at age 13. Kyle grew up in a family of musicians and showed an interest in music from an early age.

Career

2002–2009: early career

In 2002, Kyle formed Romantica, an

alternative country Alternative country, or alternative country rock (sometimes alt-country, insurgent country, Americana, or y'allternative), is a loosely defined subgenre of country music and/or country rock that includes acts that differ significantly in style ...

band with an Irish influence. Based in

, Romantica has acquired a following in the United States while releasing three albums. Their first, ''It's Your Weakness That I Want'', came out in 2004, bringing an Irish rock approach to the Americana genre of music. Their second album, ''America'', brought the band more widespread recognition as Kyle's lyrics and poetic approach earned enthusiastic praise. Paste magazine ranked the album 58th on its Top 100 Albums of 2007 list. As the songwriter of the ''America'' album, Kyle won several awards at the 2007 International Songwriting Competition. In 2009, Romantica released ''Control Alt Country Delete'' which was written and recorded in a single day in

Austin Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

2010–present

After the release of Romantica's third album, Kyle went on tour in Europe with

Carrie Rodriguez Carrie Luz Rodriguez (born July 31, 1978) is an American singer-songwriter and the daughter of Texan singer-songwriter David Rodriguez and Texas painter Katy Nail, and is the granddaughter of prolific Texas essayist Frances Nail. She sings and ...

in 2010. They performed in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

, Germany, and the United Kingdom. Kyle and Rodriguez also recorded a duet album, ''We Still Love Our Country''. The album has two original songs: ''Your Lonely Heart'', by Kyle, and ''Fire Alarm'', co-written by Kyle and Rodriguez. The other six tracks are covers of classic country songs. Both the tour and the album were well received in Europe. In 2012, Kyle began his solo career with the release of ''Ben Kyle'', a compilation of songs of a more personal nature. Commenting on the solo album's name, Kyle stated, "It's not like the Romantica songs were not personal, but this collection is definitely very autobiographical...." As of early 2013, Kyle was working on several musical projects as producer and arranger while also developing future Romantica and solo recordings.

Collaborations

In addition to his work with Romantica and Carrie Rodriguez, Ben Kyle has worked with

Alejandro Escovedo Alejandro Escovedo (born January 10, 1951) is an American rock musician, songwriter, and singer, who has been recording and touring since the late 1970s. His primary instrument is the guitar. He has played in various rock genres, including punk ...

Lucinda Williams Lucinda Gayle Williams (born January 26, 1953) is an American singer-songwriter and a solo guitarist. She recorded her first two albums: '' Ramblin' on My Mind'' (1979) and '' Happy Woman Blues'' (1980), in a traditional country and blues style ...

Sara Watkins Sara Ullrika Watkins (born June 8, 1981) is an American singer-songwriter and fiddler. Watkins debuted in 1989 as the fiddler of Nickel Creek, the progressive bluegrass group she formed with her brother Sean and mandolinist Chris Thile. In addi ...

, and Dan Wilson.

Discography

Romantica

* 2004: ''Its Your Weakness That I Want'' * 2007: ''America'' * 2009: ''Control Alt Country Delete'' * 2016: ''Shadowlands'' * 2018: ''Outlaws''

Collaboration

* 2011: ''We Still Love Our Country'' (Duet album with Carrie Rodriguez)

Solo

* 2012: ''Ben Kyle'' * 2015: ''MASSA'' * 2015: ''MASSA Deux''

References

External links

Official Website
1981 births Living people American country singer-songwriters Irish emigrants to the United States 21st-century American singers {{Improve categories, date=July 2021