Ben Jelen

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Biography

Ben Jelen (born Benjamin Ivan Jelen , 8 July 1979, Edinburgh , Scotland ) is a Scottish people|Scottish -born American people|American singer-songwriter who plays the piano, violin, and guitar. He has lived in Scotland, England , Texas , New Jersey and New York . His career has been characterized by near-stardom, with his debut album, Give It All Away (Ben Jelen album)|Give It All Away peaking at #113 on the Billboard 200|Billboard 200 list . As of 2011, he is on indefinite hiatus from his solo career and is working with a new band, along with former Deuce Project member Josh McMillan known as Under The Elephant .

Early life

Jelen attended high school in San Antonio, Texas briefly, as a freshman at Northside Health Careers High School . He completed high school at Princeton High School (New Jersey)|Princeton High School in Princeton, New Jersey and graduated from Rutgers University with a degree in biology . After that, he moved to New York City|New York to work as a producer and sound engineer at a local recording studio.

Music career

2004: Give It All Away

Jelen was discovered by Joseph Janus of Fearless Management , who originally wanted to sign him as a model. Instead, Jelen handed him a demo, and shortly thereafter, he was signed to a label and released his debut album Give It All Away in May 2004, promoted by appearances on TRL, AOL Breakers and Rock the Vote. The album also debuted at #13 on the Top Internet Albums chart, #120 on the Billboard Comprehensive Albums chart and #113 on the Billboard 200 albums chart in the United States, making it eligible for the Top Heatseekers chart, a chart of artists who have never entered the top 100 of the Billboard 200. The album debuted at #1 on the Top Heatseekers chart.

Debut single "Come On" was a hit, reaching the MTV top 20. It also debuted at #58 on the Hot Singles Sales chart. Apart from "Give It All Away" being included as a B-side to the "Come On" single, no other track from the album was released as a single.

2005–2006: Independent period

Following his debut album, Jelen left Maverick Records and independently released the Extended play|EP Rejected (EP)|Rejected through Fearless Management Records in 2005. He wrote and recorded a song for a compilation album for Tori Amos ' RAINN organization and joined the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and Wildlife Works. Jelen also appeared on the compilation album Breaking for the Holidays in 2006 with his self-produced cover of Joni Mitchell's "River" through Breaking Records.

2007: Custard Records deal and Ex-Sensitive

Jelen performed at the 2007 South by Southwest (SXSW) conference and music festival in Austin, Texas, in a lineup that also included Taylor Hicks , Amy Winehouse , Tom Morello , Mika (singer)|Mika , Martina Topley Bird , The Fratellis , Bloc Party , Paolo Nutini , Rodrigo y Gabriela , Mogwai and Spoon (band)|Spoon .

Jelen's second full-length album, Ex-Sensitive , was released on 17 July 2007. The album, formerly titled East and Pulse , was produced by Linda Perry and mixed by Bill Bottrell .

2009 - Under The Elephant

w:Wikipedia:Redirect|redirect : Under The Elephant

Jelen has placed his solo career on hold to focus on a new group Under The Elephant. The band consists of Jelen, Josh McMillan, Lisa McMillan, Tina Mathieu and James Darwin "Jimmy" Stull. The group is, as of 1 March 2010, unsigned.

Personal life

Jelen met model Fern Palmer in a New York City night club on 6 January 2004. The couple married on 28 June 2009 in a private garden wedding in Palmer's hometown of Cleveland, Georgia .

Television and film

Jelen's music has been featured on the TV shows One Tree Hill (TV series)| One Tree Hill , Smallville (TV series)| Smallville and Las Vegas (TV series)| Las Vegas , and was used to promote the Academy Awards|Academy Award -nominated Finding Neverland starring Johnny Depp and Kate Winslet . "Come On" also features in the film Love Wrecked with Amanda Bynes and in 2007, the instrumental version of "Come On" was featured in a trailer for The Bucket List . His song, Where Do We Go also appeared in the film Fired Up (film)|Fired Up . http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1596073/

Jelen also guest starred on House (TV series)| House as a doctor applying for a fellowship in the episode Kids (House episode)|"Kids" .

Discography

Albums

Give It All Away (Ben Jelen album)|Give It All Away (2004) #113 US

Rejected (EP) (2005)

Ex-Sensitive (2007)

Wreckage (EP) (Ben Jelen)|Wreckage (EP) (2008)

Digital-only albums

Sessions@AOL (2004)

Singles

"Come On/Give It All Away" (2004) (#58 U.S. Hot Singles Sales )

"Where Do We Go" (2007)

"Wreckage" (2008)

Other contributions

# Unknown track on the limited-edition compilation "CG Vibes: Music That Gives Back", available for five months in 2004 and supplied free with The Corrs ' Borrowed Heaven , Toby Lightman 's Little Things (Toby Lightman album)|Little Things , Brandy (entertainer)|Brandy 's Afrodisiac and his own Give It All Away (Ben Jelen album)|Give It All Away
# "Truth" on the compilation "For the Next X: A Benefit CD for RAINN" (2004)
# " Talkin' 'bout A Revolution|Talking About A Revolution " (cover of Tracy Chapman 's song of the same name) on the Russell Simmons / Babyface (musician)|Babyface compilation Wake Up Everybody (2004)
# "Forever In Our Hearts" (playing keyboards and violin), a single for tsunami relief (2005)
# " River (Joni Mitchell song)|River " (cover of the Joni Mitchell song of the same name) on the compilation Breaking for the Holidays (2006)
# " Woman (John Lennon song)|Woman " (cover of John Lennon 's song of the same name) on Instant Karma: The Amnesty International Campaign to Save Darfur (2007)

Copyright Citations

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