“In a small, "Dutch" village in Northeast Wisconsin, a boy was raised by two loving parents to care deeply about three things: people, sports, and music. Ben Vanden Boogaard was his name, (not Benjamin because his parents already felt bad enough about the length of their last name), and from the very beginning, he had dreams far too massive to be reached within the confines of Little Chute, WI. 

 

At first, his aspirations were focused on professional sports, as many young boys are. As Ben’s life unfolded, however, his NBA aspirations were tempered by the fact that he only grew to be 5’ 10’’, and other than being a good three-point shooter, there wasn’t anything too special about his game to warrant a college career, much less a professional one.

 

Luckily for Ben, however, sports weren’t the only thing he was passionate about throughout his life. Ben grew up singing songs with the radio, in talent shows, in choirs, and basically any other opportunity that allowed him to. In addition to his love for singing, Ben played piano for a few years in elementary school, and then he decided to take on trumpet in middle school and early high school. During his Junior year of high school, Ben decided that it was time for him to learn guitar, so that he could write songs for a long time crush. The crush didn’t pan out long-term, but writing those love songs awakened a passion for songwriting and expressing his feelings through songs. 

 

After beginning his college career as a pre-med major, Ben quickly realized that his passions lay within music through his experiences as a member of the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse concert choir. The combination of his uninteresting course schedule and the peer pressure from friends in the music department at UW-L was enough to convince him once and for all to pursue his music dreams. 

 

Following his second year at UW-L, Ben transferred to McNally Smith College of Music in Saint Paul, MN, where he graduated with a Bachelor’s of Music in Composition-Songwriting in April 2016. He has recorded two projects of his own music thus far including a 5-song EP, Sunflower Season, which was released in February 2016, and an older 12-song album, 2 O’s 2 A’s. Ben currently lives in Minneapolis, MN, where he continues to song-write and perform his music.”