The Passing of Ben Freed - Guest Article by James Reams!

The sad news is Ben Freed passed away, a long time stalwart of the Northeast banjo, bluegrass scene, he influenced many banjo players. He played on the soundtrack for the Coen brothers feature film “Raising Arizona” Ben had a number of widely praised CD’s, Bluegrass Unlimited called Speed of Sound “ both infectious and very creative…” Dr. Banjo, Peter Wernick, called Ben’s CD Suite for Bluegrass Banjo “ one of the best banjo records ever.” Ben was an amazing individual, family man and community builder. He will be missed by that community. Banjo Ben