Ben Combe

Lead Guitar and Vocals

A guitar player and musician for most of his life Ben got his start in music by his Grandmother who was a Piano teacher/singer for over 50 years Like most kids being taught by his grandmother Ben and the piano didnt fit until luckily his father, a classical guitar player and maker, would practice every night and those sounds stuck in his ear. After his sister bought him Led Zeppelin IV for Christmas when he was 11 or 12 it was all over and Bens path was etched in stone from that day forward, Thank you Jimi Page. By the age of 18 it was time for college and after a bit of soul searching Ben decided to pursue music as his profession and got his Bachelors degree in Professional music from the Berklee College of Music in Boston in 2000. After graduation, and some more soul searching, moved to Tempe Arizona for a scenery change where he started the band Badshoe as well as teaching 50 private students a week for about 5 years. While in the desert Badshoe recorded a full length CD entitled Cannonball Savant in 2004. This unsigned album that few people heard was the thing that changed his life forever. After Badshoe broke up in late 2005 Ben caught wind that Particle was in search for a new guitar player and in the essence of wasting no time, and with CD in hand, within a week of the break up Ben was being scheduled for his first audition with the group, the rest is History. In Particle Ben played over 200 shows from coast to coast over the course of just under 2 years and had the pleasure of sharing the stage with such rock icons as Mickey Hart (Grateful Dead), Robbie Krieger (the Doors), Joe Satriani, Ivan Neville (The Meters), Blues Traveler as well as opening for such acts as 311 and Matisyahu in arenas and amphitheaters in the Southern United States. Ben Has performed at such major festivals as Lollapalooza, 10,000 lakes, Summerfest, and Bumbershoot. During his time in Particle the band released a live DVD as well as a double live cd with National distribution. Ben Combe left Particle in late 2007 in which time he started the band Emergency Broadcast which debuts in early 2008. Ben lives in Boulder, CO. with his wife and 2 dogs. When he is not thinking about music he is usually cooking something.

Gear Info

Paul Reed Smith Hollowbody II
1972 Hiwatt custom 100
1969 Marshall 4x4 Slant cab
Boss TU-2 Tuner
Teese RMC2 Wah
Digitech whammy
Mojo Vibe-Sweet Sound electronics
Powerglide-custom made TS-808 NOS replica
Fulltone Full Drive 2
Analogman mini Bi-comp (usually use the orange sqeezer
side)
Cusack tap-tempo tremolo
Ibanez analog delay
Line 6 delay modeler
Gibson digital echoplex pro
Electro-Harmonix Holy Grail reverb tank
Voodoo labs power source
Mogami&monster cables
Dunlop 2.0mm beveled edge picks
DR-10 pure blues all nickle strings

Links

Myspace

Emergency Broadcast is:

Ben Combe
Brian Dillion
Chris Crantz
Stephen "Mr. X" Buttree