Benjamin Rose

here's to eating side salads in even more new places ✨

new tour dates just dropped. gonna be in Minneapolis, Lansing, New York, Montreal, Toronto, Chicago, and more this spring. very very excited to make some magic on stage 🖤

got a few acoustic shows coming up soon!

✨ Sat, September 27 - Rhapsody & Rose duo @ Hop Garden (Belleville, WI)
✨ Sun, September 28 - solo (Madison, WI)
✨ Sun, October 26 - Rhapsody & Rose duo (Mt. Horeb, WI)

just an appreciation post.

for for capturing otherwise intangible moments. for for working as hard as we do and finding the joy that we do. for the venues and staff and bartenders and bands and event organizers and volunteers and promoters who give us space to make the magic happen. for everyone who's ever showed up to a show, whether it was one of our first, or just this year. y'all make it a joy 🫶🏻🖤

(p.s. so many shows coming up always 😉 just announced a bunch, go check 🤘🏻)

Today!! come hear some local songwriters for an early 4pm show! I only pull out this set a few times a year these days, so it'll be something special!

Songwriter spotlight today at Harmony Bar & Grill in Madison! Music starts at 4pm!

https://facebook.com/events/s/songwriter-spotlight-the-harmo/2148441548868961/

Hi world! As you know, I spend most of my time on stage with Kat and the Hurricane these days, but I do have a couple solo outings in August to tell you about!

On August 18, I'll be playing at the lovely Harmony Bar & Grill in Madison for a singer-songwriter show (Songwriter Spotlight @ Harmony Bar & Grill)!

Then, on August 29 I'll be joining Maddie of LINE - Band in a conversation with barb morisson about their book "Bottoming for God" at everyone's favorite local bookstore A Room of One's Own Bookstore!

These events will combine some of my favorite things: music, writing, and storytelling. Hope to see you there 🖤

~ a few things ~

• I finished up another semester which means only one more year of school to go. trying to work, obtain another degree, and do the music thing is a LOT sometimes but I'm looking forward to focusing more specifically on my thesis and my own research next year

• I am a finalist for a award! Very honored to have been voted and considered for my keytaring 🎹🤘🏻 is also nominated for 3 awards (Pop/Rock Artist, Rock Song ("On My Way Back"), and Ensemble Vocals). The awards show is on Sunday and is going to celebrate a lot of amazing Wisconsin music.

• The love on Caffeine & Alcohol means the world to me. It's very cathartic to know that my stories resonate with other people, too.

• We're playing shows again! Starting this Friday in La Crosse, we're playing a handful of Midwest dates throughout May and June, would love to see you beautiful people there 🖤

• It has been over 200 days of increasing violence against Palestine and the U.S. remains complicit in funding a genocide that we're watching in real time over our phone screens. It's dystopian, it's familiar, it's abhorrent. Don't stop shouting, don't stop sharing, don't stop pushing until Palestine - and every people oppressed by empire - is free. 🍉

okay love y'all, drink water and take a nap

(photo by )

Alright, time to be sappy.

Music has always been in my veins. There's something about the way live music has the power to facilitate emotion, joy, community, and catharsis for a room full of people that goes beyond words. Being on stage requires opening yourself to the energy that's in the room and refining it, directing it, amplifying it to create an in-the-moment experience that can't be replicated anywhere else. It's an honor and also, a responsibility.

This is the same feeling I chased as a worship leader, I think, though in a different context. Getting to make music about q***r joy and mental health and love and heartbreak, alongside some of the best friends I've ever had? That's a whole different level of magic ✨

We just played in 13 different states across the last 3 weeks and I'm damn proud. Putting out a new song, then being voted Artist of the Year by our community, and then getting to take our music across the country has me in my feels a little.

That said, to be fully transparent: I'm exhausted. We live in a world that commodifies art and forces people to "grind" on their passions in order to survive. Trying to do music for the love of it AND in order to pay rent every month takes a toll. We've been working nonstop for years to build a social media presence, to have an engaging live show, to be present and responsive to our friends and fans, to connect and collaborate with other artists, to write and record and release good music, to design and sell cute merch, to pitch ourselves to press outlets, to ask nicely to get our music added to playlists, to remember to take videos so we can prove that we did music things that week, to book shows in our area and far beyond, to keep ourselves approachable while also maintaining personal lives. It's such a privilege to be able to keep doing it, because people keep responding positively; AND, it's a lot of work to do it all simultaneously while also trying to survive in this capitalistic hellscape.

(con't. in comments ⤵️)