The Blind Boys of Alabama are recognized worldwide as living legends of gospel music. Celebrated by The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and The Recording Academy/GRAMMYs with Lifetime Achievement Awards, inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame, and winners of six GRAMMY® Awards, they have attained the highest levels of achievement in a career that spans over 70 years. The Blind Boys are known for crossing multiple musical boundaries with their remarkable interpretations of everything from traditional gospel favorites to contemporary spiritual material by songwriters such as Eric Clapton, Prince, and Tom Waits. They have appeared on recordings with many artists, including Lou Reed, Peter Gabriel, Bonnie Raitt, Willie Nelson, Aaron Neville, Susan Tedeschi, Ben Harper, Patty Griffin, and Taj Mahal.

Blind Boys of Alabama released 'Echoes Of The South’ on Aug 25, 2023, which finds the Gospel Music Hall of Fame inductees coming home to honor those they've lost on a bold declaration of how far they still plan to go. The eleven-song collection is a portrait of perseverance from a group well-versed in overcoming incredible odds - from singing for pocket change in the Jim Crow South to performing for three different American presidents, soundtracking the Civil Rights movement, and helping define modern gospel music as we know it. Recently, the group's decades-long mission of spreading light and love has taken on even deeper context as they've reckoned with the loss of two of their own, Paul Beasley and Benjamin Moore, both longtime members of the Blind Boys’ tight-knit family. 'Echoes Of The South' is released in their honor - as well as for the group's recently-retired leader, Jimmy Carter - and keeps the Blind Boys' long-held mission statement at its core: “As long as everybody gives all that they have to give and we sing songs that touch the heart, we'll live on forever.”

In 2022, the group had a collaborative recording with Béla Fleck, nominated for a Grammy. The nominated collaboration, "I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free," powerfully reimagines the anthem of the Civil Rights Movement, originally made famous by Nina Simone. They also have had collaborative recordings and coinciding tours with both Marc Cohn and afro-pop duo Amadou & Mariam. In 2023, Blind Boys garnered another Grammy nomination for Best Americana Single for 'The Message' featuring Black Violin. 

2024 started off the year with a return to the GRAMMY® Awards with three nominations and one win for Best Roots Gospel Album - 'Echoes Of The South.’ This was followed by a sold-out tour in Australia and a sizzling performance with Sir Tom Jones during the Bluesfest Byron Bay (Australia), where video of their rehearsal reached 750K + views in 48 hours on social platforms. The definitive book, titled Spirit of the Century, was released in March 2024. It’s an insider history of the Blind Boys of Alabama, the longest-running group in American music, and the untold story of their world written with band members and key musical colleagues.

Ben Powell is fast assuring his position as one of the most versatile violinists of his generation. British born, he now lives in Los Angeles, California after residencies in Boston, Paris and New York. He is an alumnus of Berklee College of Music where he majored in composition and performance.

Upon hearing the playing of Stephane Grappelli in his early teens his journey into string improvisation was born. Recently, Ben has collaborated on his own recording projects with renown musicians such as vibraphonist Gary Burton, cellist Lynn Harrell and percussionist Peter Erskine. He was the featured violin soloist on the 2016 Warner Bros blockbuster 'Batman vs Superman' scored by Hans Zimmer, and has worked in the recording studios of Los Angeles with artists such as Neil Young, Barbra Streisand and Michael Buble. A lover of Gypsy Jazz, Ben recently performed the acclaimed 'Symphonic Django' suite as a soloist with the Tacoma Symphony Orchestra joined by American guitarist John Jorgenson. An experienced performer, Ben as appeared alongside Paul Simon, Herbie Hancock, Gloria Estefan, Danny Elfman, Celine Dion, Andrea Bocelli and recently performed as an improvising soloist with Steve Wonder at The Forum, Los Angeles.

His dynamic work as a violinist makes him a rare commodity in the detailed world of cinematic music. This has allows him regualr opportunities to work with celebrated film composers such as Hans Zimmer, Alexandre Desplat, Danny Elfman, Alan Silvestri, Geoff Zanelli and Bill Ross. He has played on over 30 major motion pictures and countless music album releases.  

Ben has enjoyed cameo appearneces on prime time television sitcoms The Mindy Project, New Girl and Two and a half Men. The latter saw Ben performing in a scene alongside actors Ashton Kuthcher and Jon Cryer, set in a restaurant where Ben's character was hired to play during a proposal. This episode happened to be the next to last ever episode of the shows record breaking 12 year run.   

Fusing the improvising worlds with his classical and pedagogy , Ben is truly a musician who transcends boundaries, not only by his own playing but by bringing together such varied musical company to join him in his creative ventures. This was most recently realized on his March 2016 release 'The LA Sessions'. Featuring 26 of LA's finest musicians, Ben assembled an album collecting music from the worlds of Bebop, American Folk, Classical, French Musette, Film, Gypsy Jazz, Fusion, and Traditional Jazz.

Ben plays an English violin by Alfred Vincent.