Ben Sollee Ditches the Van, Tours On His Bike

Louisville, Kentucky singer-songwriter/cellist Ben Sollee just kicked off his Ditch the Van Tour. What makes the tour so special and noteworthy is that Ben, along with friends/bandmates, is touring via bicycle instead of a van. Although the tour is all about traveling on two wheels, riding with no support vehicles, Ben admits that there are times when other modes of transportation are necessary to make the tour possible. "With the train we can keep a show that next day," he says. "If we didn’t do this we’d be treading water, and, like I said, we can’t afford to do that any more than any other business."

Ben explains that the tour is more than just a way to be environmentally friendly.

This tour is not about going “green,” even though it will have a smaller over all carbon footprint than a more traditional tour by van. Instead, its about re-humanizing the pace of the road. The bicycles provide the limitation on a local level. However, we have to be real. I have a family and we all have bills to pay so we can’t afford for this tour to be a musical vacation by bicycle. And, it’s important to us to demonstrate that biking to our business can be financially sustainable. We want biking to be a compelling choice to other businesses and artists. So, through some trial and error we’ve discovered a few things.

The entire trip is being filmed. After the jump, watch the inaugural video and see if Ben and co. will be hitting your town on the tour.

The Ditch the Van Tour is an experiment in sustainability and community oriented music touring by bicycle. In this first chapter, film-maker Marty Benson introduces all the characters on the road. See Katie Benson, Jordon Ellis and Ben Sollee weigh in their gear and ride out on the first leg of their 1500+ mile self-supported tour by bike. Follow their adventures at www.ditchthevan.tumblr.com

Ben Sollee Tour Dates

Aug 25 - Salinas CA - The Steinbeck Center
Aug 26 - Santa Cruz CA - The Crepe Place
Aug 28 - San Francisco CA - Rickshaw Warehouse
Sept 04 - Fort Collins CO - Tour De Fat
Sept 05 - Denver CO - The Oriental
Sept 06 - Colorado Springs - Colorado College
Sept 08 - Baltimore MD - 2640
Sept 09 - Harve de Grace, MD - Biller's Bikes
Sept 10 - Harve de Grace, MD - Biller's Bikes
Sept 12 - Philadelphia, PA - Johnny Brenda's
Sept 15 - Doylestown PA - Puck Live
Sept 16 - Bethlehem PA - Wild Flower Cafe
Sept 18 - Kempton PA - Renewable Energy & Sustainable Living Festival
Sept 21 - York PA - The Depot
Sept 23 - Frederick MD - Cafe Nola
Sept 24 - Bethesda MD - Mansion at Strathmore
Sept 25 - Washington DC - Edmund Burke School
Oct 06 - Berea KY - TBD
Oct 07 - Richmond KY - Eastern Kentucky University
Oct 08 - Frankfort KY - Grand Theatre

Ben invites local art and music organizations, as well as bicycle communities, to get involved with every show he plays. It is this reason that his home state's Kentucky Coffeetree Cafe got involved.

BUY: Pick up Ben Sollee's most recent release Dear Companion here on CD or here digitally.

Ditch the Van Tour Journal
Ben Sollee Official Site
Ben Sollee @ Facebook
Ben Sollee @ MySpace
Ben Sollee @ Twitter