For 2 decades, Benjamin Winter thought athletics would be his career. When injuries changed the football players plans in 1999, Benjamin went back to school for music and all his efforts went into writing, recording and performing. In Winter 2003, San Francisco native Benjamin left for his first solo tour through 38 US states and 9 European countries. This tour was providing much of the material that was to be his first solo release "Amber Alley And After". He almost made it home, but fell in love in Europe on the last stop of the 77 city tour. And nowhere seemed better than Amsterdam to finish the album. So he stayed and finished the songs in a snowy Amsterdam that year. It became a second home where Benjamin was quickly embraced by the Dutch Singer-Songwriter scene and formed his backing "The Make Believe" comprised of cello, drums, bass, guitars, keys and trumpet. The Make Believe in it's many manifestations holds base in San Francisco while basing Europen tours out of Amsterdam a few months/year.
The release of Benjamin's solo debut "Amber Alley And After"(2005) gained a faithful, grassroots following in America, concentrated in his home California, and Holland, and earned attention to support Arcade Fire, Donovan Frankenreiter, Angus and Julia Stone, Glen Phillips (toad the wet sprocket), & Pete Murray. Amber Alley And After was recorded with LA engineer/producer Greg Laswell. “The lyrics, though words are not always needed, are soulless for me unless I believe what I am saying. Lyrics are the part of each song that comes most naturally to me. It’s generally the part of the songs that I am most pleased with and want people to understand about the song when it is done. I try to stay disciplined in my belief that only things from the heart can reach the heart.”
An EP titled "Memory and Forever" was released in a packed, sweaty theater in Amsterdam in 2006. The small collection of hooky songs received rotation on major radio stations including KFOG (SF) and 3FM in Holland.
Benjamin and The Make Believe now bring folky full-length "The Wind Blows Way Up High" accompanied by a faithful grassroots following that Benjamin has been building for the past decade and supported by a release by Munich Records .
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