Ben Kweller
Ben Kweller is an American rock musician and former lead singer of the 1990s band Radish, which was compared to Nirvana in Rolling Stone Magazine. The band grew in popularity in the Dallas, Texas music scene from its formation in 1993. However, the band was dismissed by critics as little more than an imitation of Nirvana with the novelty of an extremely young lead vocal-guitarist (Kweller was in his teens for the entire existence of the band). Nonetheless, Kweller and his two bandmates, bassist Bryan Blur and drummer John Kent, were signed to a major record label in 1995 by Mercury Records. Regardless of a much-hyped beginning, which included appearances on Conan O'Brien and David Letterman, Radish failed to strike big success with either its first record Dizzy or its sophomore effort Restraining Bolt.
Solo Career
Kweller began his solo career with his 2002 debut Sha-Sha. The title track reconciles his past career efforts with Radish and the difficulty of finding an identity as a 20 year-old artist beginning a musical career for the second time. The record kept many of the familiar sounds of Nirvana, but also worked in other pop music influences such as Weezer and Ben Folds. The album grew in popularity with a grassroot effort with his website and a promotion group called TeamBK, which promoted word-of-mouth advertising. Kweller's second solo effort, On My Way, has attempted to match the modest but well-received popularity of Sha-Sha while creating a more mature and subdued sound.