Ben Scott-Brandt has been a songwriter and vocalist in Grand Rapids, Michigan, for 12 years. He was the founder of the now-defunct Bunkbed Nights, an indie folk-rock group known for their unexpected house show performances. Formed in 1999, the group morphed from alt-country trio to seven-piece rock outfit, eventually swelling to a thirteen-member micro-orchestra and choir.
This bizarre metamorphosis proved too much to withstand, and they disbanded in 2006. Highlights of their career include an album sung in a made-up language, experimental instrumental arrangements featuring bowed bicycle wheel spokes and crumpling plastic bags, and their predilection for playing on the floor without amplification.
Ben Scott-Brandt went on to start an ambient-folk solo project, Ribbons of Song. The project slowly swelled in membership to a seven-piece group, featuring upright bass, two guitars, drums, organ, trombone, and group vocals. The current group is exploring folk-pop structures and sounds, combining strong lyrical imagery, a broad “choral” vocal approach, and a mostly-acoustic instrumentation. The Ribbons released their full-length studio album, Pocket Dream, in 2010. Scott-Brandt’s stated intention is to “make music that feels touchable and squirmy, focusing with child-binoculars on the cloud of hazy signifiers and feelings associated with nostalgia and memory.”