Benmont Tench
Encyclopedia
Benjamin Montmorency Tench, III (born September 7, 1953) is an American keyboardist
best known as a founding member of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
.
, the second child of Benjamin Montmorency Tench, Jr. and Mary Catherine McInnis Tench. His father was born and raised in Gainesville, and served as a circuit court
judge.
Benmont Tench played piano from an early age and his first recital was at age six. After discovering the music of The Beatles
, he ended his classical piano lessons and focused on rock and roll
. He met Tom Petty
for the first time at a Gainesville music store when he was 11. Petty and Tench played together as members of the Sundowners in 1964. The Tenches' garage was a frequent practice site for the band on evenings when Benmont's father was out for the evening. Benmont's mother enjoyed having the boys there, but she would check with the neighbors to make certain the music wouldn't disturb them.
for boarding school at Phillips Exeter Academy
, then attended Tulane University
in New Orleans
.
While on a college break, Tench went to a concert by Mudcrutch
, Petty's band, with an opening act from nearby Jacksonville
, Lynyrd Skynyrd
.
Afterwards, he sat in with the band on several different sessions, then went back to school. Soon after, Petty called Tench and asked him to quit school and join Mudcrutch full-time, which after long deliberation, Benmont agreed to; but before he would leave school, Petty had to convince Circuit Court Judge Benjamin Tench that his son had a promising music career.
Other bands he played in include: The Apathetics, the MiffMole Band, and Tuna Fish and Larry.
In addition to playing piano and Hammond organ with the Heartbreakers, Tench is also known as a skilled session musician
, having recorded with dozens of notable artists, including Johnny Cash
, U2
, Elisa, Stevie Nicks
, Lucinda Williams
, Sam Phillips
, You Am I
, Susanna Hoffs
, Bob Dylan
, Roy Orbison
, The Rolling Stones
, Don Henley
, John Prine
, Ringo Starr
, John Fogerty
, Elvis Costello
, Bonnie Raitt
, Sheryl Crow
, Waylon Jennings
, Paul Westerberg
, X, Mary Chapin Carpenter
, Carlene Carter
, The dB's
, Alanis Morissette
, The Ramones, The Screaming Trees, The Tragically Hip
, The Divinyls, The Goo Goo Dolls, Green Day
, The Cult
, The Jayhawks, Dave Rawlings, Fiona Apple
, Lone Justice
, Sean Watkins
, New Found Glory
, Tift Merritt
, Peter Case
, Neil Diamond
, Ryan Adams
and Powderfinger
, as well as many others.
Songs written by Tench and recorded by other artists include "You Little Thief", a top 5 UK and Australian hit for Feargal Sharkey
in 1985, (written about his affair with Maria McKee
, in response to her song "A Good Heart
") and "Never Be You" (co-written with Petty), which became a #1 US Country hit for Rosanne Cash
, also in 1985. Tench has received two ASCAP songwriting awards: in 1995 for "Stay Forever
" (performed by Hal Ketchum
) and in 2001 for "Unbreakable Heart" (performed by Jessica Andrews
). This was also recorded by Carlene Carter
in the early 1990s. He also wrote songs for Kimmie Rhodes ("Play Me A Memory") and Lone Justice
("Sweet, Sweet Baby (I'm Falling)").
, initially named The Scrolls
now officially known as Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.). The band is composed of Tench, Sean Watkins
(guitar), Sara Watkins
(fiddle), Glen Phillips
(guitar
, vocals), Luke Bulla (fiddle), Greg Leisz
(various), Pete Thomas
(drums), and Davey Faragher
(bass). The group released a self-titled album in September 2009. Tench penned one of the songs on the album, named "The Price," sung by Sara Watkins and himself.
In March 2009, Tench frequently appeared with the Watkins Family Hour at Largo at the Coronet in Los Angeles. He has also appeared at the Largo and at the Fillmore in San Francisco as a special guest with Gillian Welch
and David Rawlings
, and accompanied the Dave Rawlings Machine on part of their west coast tour in spring 2010.
Keyboardist
A keyboardist is a musician who plays keyboard instruments. Until the early 1960s musicians who played keyboards were generally classified as either pianists or organists. Since the mid-1960s, a plethora of new musical instruments with keyboards have come into common usage, requiring a more...
best known as a founding member of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers are an American rock band from Gainesville, Florida. They were formed in 1976 by Tom Petty , Mike Campbell , Benmont Tench , , Ron Blair and Stan Lynch...
.
Early years
Benmont Tench was born in Gainesville, FloridaGainesville, Florida
Gainesville is the largest city in, and the county seat of, Alachua County, Florida, United States as well as the principal city of the Gainesville, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area . The preliminary 2010 Census population count for Gainesville is 124,354. Gainesville is home to the sixth...
, the second child of Benjamin Montmorency Tench, Jr. and Mary Catherine McInnis Tench. His father was born and raised in Gainesville, and served as a circuit court
Circuit court
Circuit court is the name of court systems in several common law jurisdictions.-History:King Henry II instituted the custom of having judges ride around the countryside each year to hear appeals, rather than forcing everyone to bring their appeals to London...
judge.
Benmont Tench played piano from an early age and his first recital was at age six. After discovering the music of The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
, he ended his classical piano lessons and focused on rock and roll
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
. He met Tom Petty
Tom Petty
Thomas Earl "Tom" Petty is an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He is the frontman of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and was a founding member of the late 1980s supergroup Traveling Wilburys and Mudcrutch. He has also performed under the pseudonyms of Charlie T...
for the first time at a Gainesville music store when he was 11. Petty and Tench played together as members of the Sundowners in 1964. The Tenches' garage was a frequent practice site for the band on evenings when Benmont's father was out for the evening. Benmont's mother enjoyed having the boys there, but she would check with the neighbors to make certain the music wouldn't disturb them.
Education
Benmont went north to New HampshireNew Hampshire
New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian...
for boarding school at Phillips Exeter Academy
Phillips Exeter Academy
Phillips Exeter Academy is a private secondary school located in Exeter, New Hampshire, in the United States.Exeter is noted for its application of Harkness education, a system based on a conference format of teacher and student interaction, similar to the Socratic method of learning through asking...
, then attended Tulane University
Tulane University
Tulane University is a private, nonsectarian research university located in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States...
in New Orleans
New Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana. The New Orleans metropolitan area has a population of 1,235,650 as of 2009, the 46th largest in the USA. The New Orleans – Metairie – Bogalusa combined statistical area has a population...
.
While on a college break, Tench went to a concert by Mudcrutch
Mudcrutch
Mudcrutch is a Southern rock band from Gainesville, Florida best known for being the forerunner of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.-Early Years:Mudcrutch was formed in 1970 by Tom Petty and Tom Leadon, who had been playing together in a band called the Epics...
, Petty's band, with an opening act from nearby Jacksonville
Jacksonville, Florida
Jacksonville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Florida in terms of both population and land area, and the largest city by area in the contiguous United States. It is the county seat of Duval County, with which the city government consolidated in 1968...
, Lynyrd Skynyrd
Lynyrd Skynyrd
Lynyrd Skynyrd is an American rock band prominent in spreading Southern Rock during the 1970s.Originally formed as the "Noble Five" in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1964, the band rose to worldwide recognition on the basis of its driving live performances and signature tune, Freebird...
.
Afterwards, he sat in with the band on several different sessions, then went back to school. Soon after, Petty called Tench and asked him to quit school and join Mudcrutch full-time, which after long deliberation, Benmont agreed to; but before he would leave school, Petty had to convince Circuit Court Judge Benjamin Tench that his son had a promising music career.
Professional musician
Mudcrutch eventually evolved into Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.Other bands he played in include: The Apathetics, the MiffMole Band, and Tuna Fish and Larry.
In addition to playing piano and Hammond organ with the Heartbreakers, Tench is also known as a skilled session musician
Session musician
Session musicians are instrumental and vocal performers, musicians, who are available to work with others at live performances or recording sessions. Usually such musicians are not permanent members of a musical ensemble and often do not achieve fame in their own right as soloists or bandleaders...
, having recorded with dozens of notable artists, including Johnny Cash
Johnny Cash
John R. "Johnny" Cash was an American singer-songwriter, actor, and author, who has been called one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century...
, U2
U2
U2 are an Irish rock band from Dublin. Formed in 1976, the group consists of Bono , The Edge , Adam Clayton , and Larry Mullen, Jr. . U2's early sound was rooted in post-punk but eventually grew to incorporate influences from many genres of popular music...
, Elisa, Stevie Nicks
Stevie Nicks
Stephanie Lynn "Stevie" Nicks is an American singer-songwriter, best known for her work with Fleetwood Mac and an extensive solo career, which collectively have produced over forty Top 50 hits and sold over 140 million albums...
, Lucinda Williams
Lucinda Williams
Lucinda Williams is an American rock, folk, blues and country music singer and songwriter. She recorded her first albums in 1978 and 1980 in a traditional country and blues style and received very little attention from radio, the media, or the public. In 1988, she released her self-titled album,...
, Sam Phillips
Sam Phillips (singer)
Leslie Ann Phillips, aka Sam Phillips is an American singer and a songwriter.-Biography:Phillips was born in Glendale, California. She began her musical career as a vocalist in the early 1980s, singing background parts for Christian artists Mark Heard, Randy Stonehill and others...
, You Am I
You Am I
You Am I are an Australian alternative rock band, fronted by vocalist/guitarist and main songwriter Tim Rogers. They were the first Australian band to have three albums successively debut at #1 on the ARIA Charts, and are renowned for their live performances.-History:Tim Rogers formed the first...
, Susanna Hoffs
Susanna Hoffs
Susanna Lee Hoffs is an American vocalist, guitarist and actress. She is best known as a member of the all-female pop band The Bangles.-Early life:...
, Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
, Roy Orbison
Roy Orbison
Roy Kelton Orbison was an American singer-songwriter, well known for his distinctive, powerful voice, complex compositions, and dark emotional ballads. Orbison grew up in Texas and began singing in a rockabilly/country & western band in high school until he was signed by Sun Records in Memphis...
, The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band, formed in London in April 1962 by Brian Jones , Ian Stewart , Mick Jagger , and Keith Richards . Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts completed the early line-up...
, Don Henley
Don Henley
Donald Hugh "Don" Henley is an American singer, songwriter and drummer, best known as a founding member of the Eagles before launching a successful solo career. Henley was the drummer and lead vocalist for the Eagles from 1971–1980, when the band broke up...
, John Prine
John Prine
John Prine is an American country/folk singer-songwriter. He has been active as a recording artist and live performer since the early 1970s.-Biography:...
, Ringo Starr
Ringo Starr
Richard Starkey, MBE better known by his stage name Ringo Starr, is an English musician and actor who gained worldwide fame as the drummer for The Beatles. When the band formed in 1960, Starr was a member of another Liverpool band, Rory Storm and the Hurricanes. He became The Beatles' drummer in...
, John Fogerty
John Fogerty
John Cameron Fogerty is an American rock singer, songwriter, and guitarist, best known for his time with the swamp rock/roots rock band Creedence Clearwater Revival and as a #1 solo recording artist. Fogerty has a rare distinction of being named on Rolling Stone magazine's list of 100 Greatest...
, Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello , born Declan Patrick MacManus, is an English singer-songwriter. He came to prominence as an early participant in London's pub rock scene in the mid-1970s and later became associated with the punk/New Wave genre. Steeped in word play, the vocabulary of Costello's lyrics is broader...
, Bonnie Raitt
Bonnie Raitt
Bonnie Lynn Raitt is an American blues singer-songwriter and a renowned slide guitar player. During the 1970s, Raitt released a series of acclaimed roots-influenced albums which incorporated elements of blues, rock, folk and country, but she is perhaps best known for her more commercially...
, Sheryl Crow
Sheryl Crow
Sheryl Suzanne Crow is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, musician, and actress. Her music incorporates elements of rock, folk, hip hop, country and pop...
, Waylon Jennings
Waylon Jennings
Waylon Arnold Jennings was an American country music singer, songwriter, and musician. Jennings began playing at eight. He began performing at twelve, on KVOW radio. Jennings formed a band The Texas Longhorns. Jennings worked as a D.J on KVOW, KDAV and KLLL...
, Paul Westerberg
Paul Westerberg
Paul Westerberg is an American musician, best known as the former lead singer, rhythm guitarist, and songwriter of The Replacements, one of the seminal alternative rock bands of the 1980s. He launched a solo career after the dissolution of that band...
, X, Mary Chapin Carpenter
Mary Chapin Carpenter
Mary Chapin Carpenter is an American folk and country music artist. Carpenter spent several years singing in Washington, D.C. clubs before signing in the late 1980s with Columbia Records, who marketed her as a country singer...
, Carlene Carter
Carlene Carter
Carlene Carter is an American country singer and songwriter. She is the daughter of June Carter and her first husband, Carl Smith....
, The dB's
The dB's
The dB's are a jangle pop/power pop group who came into prominence in the late 1970s and 1980s. The bandmembers were Peter Holsapple, Chris Stamey, Will Rigby and Gene Holder, all of whom were from Winston-Salem, North Carolina...
, Alanis Morissette
Alanis Morissette
Alanis Nadine Morissette is a Canadian-American singer-songwriter, guitarist, record producer, and actress. She has won 16 Juno Awards and seven Grammy Awards, was nominated for two Golden Globe Awards and also shortlisted for an Academy Award nomination...
, The Ramones, The Screaming Trees, The Tragically Hip
The Tragically Hip
The Tragically Hip, often referred to simply as The Hip, is a Canadian rock band from Kingston, Ontario, consisting of Gordon Downie , Paul Langlois , Rob Baker , Gord Sinclair and Johnny Fay . Since their formation in 1983 they have released 12 studio albums, two live albums, and 46 singles...
, The Divinyls, The Goo Goo Dolls, Green Day
Green Day
Green Day is an American punk rock band formed in 1987. The band consists of lead vocalist and guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong, bassist and backing vocalist Mike Dirnt, and drummer Tre Cool...
, The Cult
The Cult
The Cult are a British rock band that was formed in 1983. They gained a dedicated following in Britain in the mid 1980s as a post-punk band with singles such as "She Sells Sanctuary", before breaking mainstream in the United States in the late 1980s as a hard rock band with singles such as "Love...
, The Jayhawks, Dave Rawlings, Fiona Apple
Fiona Apple
Fiona Apple McAfee Maggart is an American singer-songwriter and pianist. Apple met international acclaim for her 1996 debut album, Tidal, which was a critical and commercial success...
, Lone Justice
Lone Justice
Lone Justice was an American country rock band formed in 1982 by guitarist Ryan Hedgecock and singer Maria McKee.-Early era:They began their career as part of the L.A. cowpunk scene of the 1980s. Lone Justice was inspired by Hedgecock and McKee's mutual affection for rockabilly and country music...
, Sean Watkins
Sean Watkins
Sean Charles Watkins is a guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter. He is a member of the contemporary folk band Nickel Creek, the duo Fiction Family and the supergroup Works Progress Administration.-Nickel Creek:...
, New Found Glory
New Found Glory
New Found Glory is an American rock band from Coral Springs, Florida. Formed in the summer of 1997, founding members were lead vocalist Jordan Pundik, guitarists Chad Gilbert and Steve Klein, bassist Ian Grushka and drummer Joe Marino...
, Tift Merritt
Tift Merritt
Catherine Tift Merritt is an American singer-songwriter, musician and North Carolina native. With her longtime band, she has built what has been called a "unique" and critically acclaimed body of work of "sonic short stories and poignant performances." She has been compared to songwriters like...
, Peter Case
Peter Case
Peter Case is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist, who has had a wide-ranging career ranging from new wave music to folk rock to solo acoustic performance.-Early career:...
, Neil Diamond
Neil Diamond
Neil Leslie Diamond is an American singer-songwriter with a career spanning over five decades from the 1960s until the present....
, Ryan Adams
Ryan Adams
David Ryan Adams is an American alt-country/rock singer-songwriter, from Jacksonville, North Carolina. Initially part of the group Whiskeytown, Adams left the band and released his first solo album Heartbreaker in 2000...
and Powderfinger
Powderfinger
Powderfinger was an Australian rock band that formed in Brisbane in 1989. From 1992 until their breakup the band lineup consisted of vocalist Bernard Fanning, guitarists Darren Middleton and Ian Haug, bassist John Collins, and drummer Jon Coghill....
, as well as many others.
Songs written by Tench and recorded by other artists include "You Little Thief", a top 5 UK and Australian hit for Feargal Sharkey
Feargal Sharkey
Feargal Sharkey is a singer from Northern Ireland who first found fame as the lead vocalist of pop punk band The Undertones...
in 1985, (written about his affair with Maria McKee
Maria McKee
Maria Luisa McKee is an American singer and songwriter. She is best known for her work with Lone Justice and her 1990 UK solo chart-topping hit, "Show Me Heaven".-Music:...
, in response to her song "A Good Heart
A Good Heart
"A Good Heart" is a 1985 single by Feargal Sharkey, from his self-titled album.Written by Maria McKee about her relationship with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers keyboard player Benmont Tench and produced by the Eurythmics' David A. Stewart, this was former Undertones singer Feargal Sharkey's third...
") and "Never Be You" (co-written with Petty), which became a #1 US Country hit for Rosanne Cash
Rosanne Cash
Rosanne Cash is an American singer-songwriter and author. She is the eldest daughter of the late country music singer Johnny Cash and his first wife, Vivian Liberto Cash Distin....
, also in 1985. Tench has received two ASCAP songwriting awards: in 1995 for "Stay Forever
Stay Forever
"Stay Forever" is the title of a song co-written and recorded by American country music artist Hal Ketchum. It was released in January 1995 as the third single from his album Every Little Word...
" (performed by Hal Ketchum
Hal Ketchum
Hal Michael Ketchum is an American country music artist. He has released ten studio albums since 1986, including nine for the Curb and Asylum-Curb labels. Ketchum's 1991 album Past the Point of Rescue is his most commercially successful, having been certified gold by the Recording Industry...
) and in 2001 for "Unbreakable Heart" (performed by Jessica Andrews
Jessica Andrews
Jessica Danielle Andrews is an American country music singer. At age 15 in mid-1999, she made her debut on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks charts with the single "I Will Be There for You", from her debut album Heart Shaped World, released in 1999 on DreamWorks Records Nashville.Andrews...
). This was also recorded by Carlene Carter
Carlene Carter
Carlene Carter is an American country singer and songwriter. She is the daughter of June Carter and her first husband, Carl Smith....
in the early 1990s. He also wrote songs for Kimmie Rhodes ("Play Me A Memory") and Lone Justice
Lone Justice
Lone Justice was an American country rock band formed in 1982 by guitarist Ryan Hedgecock and singer Maria McKee.-Early era:They began their career as part of the L.A. cowpunk scene of the 1980s. Lone Justice was inspired by Hedgecock and McKee's mutual affection for rockabilly and country music...
("Sweet, Sweet Baby (I'm Falling)").
Current activity
In January 2008, Tench became part of a supergroupSupergroup (music)
In the late 1960s, the term supergroup was coined to describe "a rock music group whose performers are already famous from having performed individually or in other groups"....
, initially named The Scrolls
The Scrolls
Works Progress Administration, formerly known under the working title The Scrolls, is an American supergroup led by Sean Watkins, Glen Phillips, and Luke Bulla. They recorded their debut album with Benmont Tench , Sara Watkins , Greg Leisz , Pete Thomas , and Davey Faragher...
now officially known as Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.). The band is composed of Tench, Sean Watkins
Sean Watkins
Sean Charles Watkins is a guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter. He is a member of the contemporary folk band Nickel Creek, the duo Fiction Family and the supergroup Works Progress Administration.-Nickel Creek:...
(guitar), Sara Watkins
Sara Watkins
Sara Ullrika Watkins is an American singer-songwriter and fiddler. Watkins debuted in 1989 as the fiddler of the progressive bluegrass group Nickel Creek, which consisted of herself, her elder brother Sean, and mandolinist Chris Thile. As a band, they are notable for three wide-released albums:...
(fiddle), Glen Phillips
Glen Phillips
Glen Phillips is a songwriter, lyricist, singer and guitarist. He is best known as the singer and songwriter of 1990s alternative rock group Toad the Wet Sprocket.-Personal life:...
(guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, vocals), Luke Bulla (fiddle), Greg Leisz
Greg Leisz
Greg Leisz is an American multi-instrumentalist, playing lap and pedal steel guitars, guitar, mandolin, and bass.- Biography :Leisz was influenced early on by the Byrds and Flying Burrito Brothers, especially pedal steel player "Sneaky" Pete Kleinow...
(various), Pete Thomas
Pete Thomas
Pete Thomas is best known as the longtime drummer for Elvis Costello. Tom Waits has referred to him as "one of the best rock drummers alive".-Career:...
(drums), and Davey Faragher
Davey Faragher
Davey Faragher is an American bass guitarist from Redlands, California. Faragher's career took off and received critical notice as a founding member of the nineties band, Cracker, and his following work with The Imposters, the backing band for Elvis Costello since 2001.Faragher is an accomplished...
(bass). The group released a self-titled album in September 2009. Tench penned one of the songs on the album, named "The Price," sung by Sara Watkins and himself.
In March 2009, Tench frequently appeared with the Watkins Family Hour at Largo at the Coronet in Los Angeles. He has also appeared at the Largo and at the Fillmore in San Francisco as a special guest with Gillian Welch
Gillian Welch
Gillian Welch is an American singer-songwriter. She performs with her musical partner, guitarist David Rawlings. Their sparse and dark musical style, which combines elements of Appalachian music, Bluegrass, and Americana, is described by The New Yorker as "at once innovative and obliquely...
and David Rawlings
David Rawlings
David Todd Rawlings is a professional guitarist and singer. He is best known as the longtime musical partner of bluegrass singer-songwriter Gillian Welch.David attended the Berklee College of Music and studied with guitar professor Lauren Passarelli....
, and accompanied the Dave Rawlings Machine on part of their west coast tour in spring 2010.