Ben Rector

Early life (Beginnings to 2009)

Rector was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He received piano lessons , but he did not pursue music seriously until he picked up guitar (and later, songwriting) in high school.

During his first year at the University of Arkansas, he released a self-titled EP that featured the song "Conversation", which went on to win the Grand Prize in the Pop category of the John Lennon Songwriting Contest in 2006. He is the youngest person ever to win the award for the pop category. The EP grew popular in surrounding states, and Rector began touring frequently on weekends and during breaks in the school year.

While at Arkansas, Rector was a member of BYX.

Rector released his first full-length album Twenty Tomorrow in 2007 and its follow-up Songs That Duke Wrote in 2008. During his college career at the University of Arkansas he played approximately 200 shows.

In April 2009 Rector was given the Northwest Arkansas Music Award (NAMA) for best male singer-songwriter in Northwest Arkansas. In June 2009 Rector moved to Nashville to pursue songwriting and to continue his career as an artist.

Into the Morning and Something Like This (2010–2012)

Rector’s third studio album, Into the Morning, was released on February 16, 2010 reached No. 11 on Billboard's Top Heatseekers chart. Following the release, Rector co-headlined the "Three Amigos Tour" with fellow Nashvillians Steve Moakler and Andrew Ripp. The rest of 2010 brought support slots with Dave Barnes and Five for Fighting, "The Beat Lives Forever" co-headline tour with Drew Holcomb and The Neighbors, and the "Feels Like Home" tour in Germany, organized by Johannes Strate of the German band Revolverheld. In the early 2011 Rector headlined the Midwest, supported fellow Nashville artist Matt Wertz's "Weights & Wings" national release tour, and performed on the VH1 Best Cruise Ever with many artists including Train, The Script, Colbie Caillat and Lifehouse.

Something Like This was released September 2011. In mid-2011, Rector co-produced Steve Moakler’s Watching Time Run. Following the release of Something Like This Rector headlined the "Good Time Tour" which spanned 25 cities with Andrew Belle and Graham Colton as support. Over half of the shows sold out in advance. Rector was featured as direct support for a US coast-to-coast tour with Needtobreathe during their "The Reckoning" Tour in early 2012.

The Walking in Between (2013–2015)

Starting March 20, 2013 at Common Grounds in Waco, Texas, The Rectour continued until May 11, 2013, with Alpha Rev as direct support for all dates. Rector toured through 32 cities and 2 countries (United States and Canada). The tour included sold out dates in the following cities: Waco, Texas; College Station, Texas; Dallas, Texas; Fayetteville, Arkansas; Norman, Oklahoma; Auburn, Alabama; Birmingham, Alabama; Nashville, Tennessee; Knoxville, Tennessee; Greenville, South Carolina; Atlanta, Georgia; Raleigh, North Carolina; New York, New York; Boston, Massachusetts; Minneapolis, Minnesota; and Chicago, Illinois. His four-piece backing band included musicians Matthew Kidd (electric guitar), Cody Fry (guitar/keyboards), Kevin MacIntire (bass), and Jake Goss (drum set). In a nod to Elton John, Rector and his band earned the nickname Bennie & The Jets and opened every show with a cover of John's famed hit.

The Walking in Between was released on August 20, 2013. It was partly produced by Jamie Kenney and Charlie Peacock and partially self-produced. It is the first release on Rector's own Aptly Named Recordings label. The album debuted at No. 16 on the Billboard 200 chart.

Rector toured with Needtobreathe, Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors, and Colony House for the first leg of the "Tour De Compadres" tour in early 2015.

Brand New (2015–present)

Rector released his sixth studio album, Brand New, on August 28, 2015, via Aptly Named Recordings. The album debuted No. 9 on the Billboard 200 chart, moving 26,000 units and marking his biggest sales week to date and his first Top 10 album. It also debuted at No. 2 on Billboard Top Current Rock Albums chart, No. 2 on Billboard Album Core Genre Rock chart, No. 6 on Billboard Album Sales chart, No. 3 on Billboard Top Current Digital Album Sales chart, and No. 1 on Billboard Top Folk Albums chart. The title track received its first radio airplay support from Sirius XM's The Pulse channel, which discovered the song in August 2015. In January 2016, he was picked as Elvis Duran's Artist of the Month and was featured on NBC's Today show hosted by Kathy Lee Gifford and Hoda Kotb and broadcast nationally where he performed live his single "Brand New". Rector released the music video for "Brand New" on August 18, 2016.