By Cambria Roth
Silverton native Ben Rue packed his belongings and a guitar into his Ford Explorer, waved goodbye to his parents Donna and Joel Rue, and took a chance.
He left town on Feb. 19, 2012 and 36 hours later was in Nashville, Tenn.
Although he has been home several times since leaving, he returns to Silverton in a big way on July 3 – with fireworks following his country music concert.
Ben Rue will play country music starting at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, July 3 in The Oregon Garden’s Silverton Market Garden. After that, he will spend his summer playing in venues from Mill City to Molalla.
To understand the story of this 26-year-old, you need to start at the beginning. His story has changed several times – from baseball to X Factor.
“He is always surprising me with the things he does,” Donna said. “He takes the bulls by the horn, flies with it and he gives whatever he chooses, his all.”
When describing the beginning of his music career, Ben recalls his first public singing performance in a church play. He played Joseph and sang, “What Child is this?” He broke out as a star in the sixth-grade talent show at Victor Point Elementary after he sang and danced to the band ‘N Sync’s hit “I want you back.”
Music was put on the backburner as he took an interest in athletics, particularly baseball. He attended Concordia University on a baseball scholarship, and then played one year on an independent team in Kalamazoo, Mich. Every summer, he would return to his family’s grass seed farm in Victor Point and sing as he worked.
“I am always humming or singing on the farm,” Ben said. “My brothers would say, ‘Stop singing! Why are you working on the farm? Do something with music!’”
After he was released from the independent baseball team, he did just that and everything seemed to fall into place. Ben was in Portland with a former girlfriend and saw people gathering to win tickets to a Justin Moore concert. He won the musical chair contest and received VIP tickets. He met KUPL DJ, Tik Tak, and while he was using the restroom his girlfriend told the DJ that Ben was a singer.
“I returned and he said, ‘I’ll give you three months to put something in my hand to listen to’ and that is how my first EP came to be,” Ben said. “It is crazy how it worked out and how things have fallen into my lap and shaped where I am today.”
He played a few times live on the air and was even given the opportunity to play for a Stars and Guitars event in Vancouver where he opened for country artists Dustin Lynch, Craig Morgan and Lonestar.
But we can’t forget another one of Ben’s life experiences – X Factor.
A friend told him about auditions for the new show which were being held in Seattle. The catch? The auditions were in three days. Ben’s first response was, “Well, I have to work on the farm.” His dad, Joel, gave him the day off and he headed to Seattle where he stood for a total of 10 hours before he actually sang.
In Seattle, Ben did something out of character. He and his friend befriended people on the streets of Seattle who allowed them to stay the night on their couch. In the morning he got a taxi back to the key arena and sang again.
“They said they would contact me in 4 to 5 weeks, but I didn’t hear anything so I completely forgot about it,” Ben said. “Eight weeks later I got a call from a producer asking me to perform in front of the four judges – Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul, Nicole Scherzinger and L.A. Reid- and an audience of 4,000 people.”
He sang four songs, and the judges sent him to Hollywood where he was cut from the Top 80.
“I met people who I still stay in contact with from the show, and it was nice to be a part of because I knew I wasn’t by myself and there were other people like me who wanted to devote their life to playing music and doing something they loved,” Ben said.
After being eliminated, he went back to the farm, but realized he wasn’t meant to stay there. He used his contacts from the X Factor and Tik Tak to take a leap of faith in Nashville.
Ben’s best friend, Dustin Hiebert, describes Ben as someone who when he sets a goal, he is very competitive, motivated and driven to accomplishing it. These qualities worked in his advantage as he jumped into a new, bigger city.
He had heard stories of people who go to Nashville and jump right in, but he wanted to ease into the city. He took the first weeks to get to know the area and make friends to network with. He contacted producers he was introduced to in Portland, and has spent the last year focusing on writing.
Most weeks he meets up with a group of people to write. They each bring ideas and hooks, which are titles of songs, and melodies they have stuck in their head. They grab a drum beat and jam together before putting their thoughts down on paper.
“In Nashville, you can go out to any bar at night and there is always live music everywhere, whether it is good or not,” Ben said. “I always am inspired by something I hear and I’ll think ‘I want to write a song about that’ so I’ll put a hook in my phone and I have a list of 100 different ideas.”
Despite the stresses of a big city, Ben hasn’t forgotten his country roots.
“People can be changed over here and it is important to me to maintain my integrity and the work ethic I was taught on the farm at a young age,” Ben said.
For now, he gets in touch with those roots by taking the back roads out of Nashville to a town close by called Franklin. He opens his sun roof, rolls down his windows and blasts music as he drives.
This summer he will return to Oregon to play music from his new EP, work on the farm and drive the Silverton back roads he knows well.
“I know people do their 9 to 5 jobs and everyone has their own love, but I enjoy being a part of something people come to for a good time and to relax and break away from their real life,” Ben said.
