"his Music soars like a swamp hawk and wallows like a old bull gator"
taking the swamp everywhere - from Texas to tangier to Tel Aviv
Ben Prestage's own brand of Deep South Swamp Music has been featured at some of the world's premier Blues, Jazz, Americana, and Folk festivals. Armed with self-crafted instruments made from roasting pans, alligator heads, and even a closet door Prestage creates a unique sound that has earned him numerous awards and nominations including:
Lyon/Pitchford Award for "Best Diddley-Bow Player"
"Most Unique Performer Award" at Songwriters' Showcase of America
Blues Music Award nominee "Best Instrumentalist"
Independent Music Award nominee
2nd, 3rd, 4th place at International Blues Challenge
Growing up in rural Florida near the headwaters of the Everglades in gator and panther territory helped shape Prestage's spanish-moss-covered sound, but he had music in his blood before birth.
Ben's maternal great-grandmother was the leader of an all-girls band (at a time when that was unheard-of) that toured the popular vaudeville circuit and performed with one of the most famous and highest paid stars of the 1920's- Al Jolson. Her daughter was an accomplished boogie-woogie piano player.
On his father's side, Ben's grandfather played Blues and Country guitar in a Mississippi string band, when he wasn't sharecropping cotton and sweet potatoes or cutting timber.
Prestage cut his teeth performing in Florida fish camps, biker bars and tourist traps. After a stint as busker/street performer on historic Beale Street in Memphis, TN Ben emerged as one of world's top one-man-bands. After a releasing a dozen albums, and touring across the US and more than a dozen countries, Ben Prestage continues to create music that "soars like a swamp hawk and wallows like an old bull gator."
past performances
Peer Blues Festival- Belgium
North Atlantic Blues Festival- ME
Duvel Blues Festival- Belgium
White Mountain Blues and Boogie Festival- NH
Secret Garden Party (music fest)- England
New York State Blues Festival- NY
Tanjazz- Morocco
Bucks County Blues Festival- PA
Barby Club- Israel
Snowshoe Mountain Blues and Brews Festival- WV
Moulin Blues Festival- Netherlands
Heritage Blues Festival- WV
Paas Blues Festival- Netherlands
W.C. Handy Blues and BBQ Festival- KY
Zwarte Cross Festival- Netherlands
Shannon Street Blues Festival- TN
C-Blues Festival- Netherlands
Lowcountry Blues Bash- SC
Lamantin Jazz Festival- Hungary
Deep Blues Fest- MN
Dalane Blues Festival- Norway
Mississippi Valley Blues Festival- IA
Bluesfest Ingolstadt- Germany
Florida Folk Festival- FL
Backerstubli- Switzerland
Hog Days of Summer- AL
Tivoli- Austria
Howlin' Wolf Blues Festival- MS
Edinburgh Jazz Festival- Scotland
Springing the Blues- FL
Le Blue Devils- France
Magic City Blues Festival- MT
Tall City Blues Festival- TX
Durango Blues Train- CO
Tennessee River Blues Cruise- TN
Cincinnati Blues Festival- OH
Key West Songwriters' Festival- FL
Kalamazoo Blues Festival- MN
Anti-Pop Fest- FL