Guitarist to host concert, worshop on September 30

By Tucker Henderson

Reporter

Ben Ranson, will be back in New York Mills for a guitar workshop and concert at the NY Mills Regional Cultural Center on Saturday, Sept. 30.

Ranson explains that he is a nylon-string, finger-style guitarist, guitar teacher and singer-songwriter of humorous songs. He is from Sandstone, Minn. and his music covers a multitude of topics ranging from garbage men to grasshoppers. He graduated from the Berkeley College of Music in Boston, Mass., where he studied performance and composition.

Ranson has held multiple concerts at the Cultural Center over the years and is a fan favorite for many in the area. This Saturday, he will be offering a workshop on his particular style of guitar playing. He has performed with country artist Blind Joe, folksinger T-Roy Anderson and the neo-soul band Heart and Soul. Through these experiences, he has learned a great deal about playing, performing and improvising with the guitar.

“The workshop is an unaccompanied improvisation of the guitar,” said Ranson. “It’s actually for beginners to advanced players. I generally say you should know a G, C, and a D chord in order to do it. If you can play those, you can do the workshop.”

The workshop will take place at 1 p.m. on Saturday at the Cultural Center and all who are eligible are invited to attend and bring a guitar. A $15 workshop fee will be charged at the door. Ranson started his guitar workshops after COVID-19 and has recently taught workshops at the Sebeka School and Park Rapids Music Shop.

Ranson will also be offering a concert later in the evening starting at 7 p.m. at the Cultural Center. His guitar work offers varying styles from chicken pickin’, blues, as well as jazz and flamenco in his music. He enjoys combining the ironic and quirky with the sophisticated and refined to create something unusual and humorous.

“I play humorous songs and then I play really advanced finger-style guitar,” he said. “Last time I had my own show, the whole place was laughing and laughing. It’s something that everybody is going to be laughing. The songs are a bit off-color—just enough sort of outrageous stuff in them to really get everyone going—and a lot of stuff about local events.”

Ranson has been playing the guitar for nearly 30 years and enjoys his time fine-tuning his skills and practicing his particular style.

“I really enjoy improvising and I really enjoy being able to spontaneously create a piece of music that people believe is essentially a composed piece of music, or they know I’m improvising, but that’s impressive in the same way as a composed piece is.”