Hunter Benedict Shepherd was born on September 20,1968 and is an American musician best known as the bassist of rock band Soundgarden.
32 Facts About Ben Shepherd
2.
Ben Shepherd played in various punk-rock bands and eventually joined Soundgarden as a bassist in 1990.
3.
Ben Shepherd contributed to the band's musical evolution and played a significant role in songwriting.
4.
Ben Shepherd played in various bands before Soundgarden reunited in 2010, continuing until Chris Cornell's death in 2017.
5.
Ben Shepherd released a solo album, In Deep Owl, in 2013, and has two children.
6.
Ben Shepherd partially owns an upscale Seattle bar, Hazlewood, and resides on Bainbridge Island, Washington.
7.
Ben Shepherd was born in an American military base in Okinawa.
8.
Ben Shepherd's father worked in the Nike missile program and played the guitar.
9.
Ben Shepherd's family moved to Allen, Texas, then settled in Kingston, Washington, where Shepherd grew up.
10.
Ben Shepherd became interested in music after listening to Johnny Cash on television.
11.
When Ben Shepherd asked his father for a guitar, his father complied only after insisting he must learn every chord in a large book with nothing but a guitar neck.
12.
Ben Shepherd was a fan of Soundgarden ever since their early days as a three-piece.
13.
Once bassist Hiro Yamamoto left in 1989, Ben Shepherd auditioned to replace him even as his primary instrument was the guitar.
14.
Ben Shepherd's introduction was deemed by Soundgarden as helpful towards their musical evolution, bringing his own compositions that showed a new style, and guitarist Kim Thayil adding that Shepherd gave "a creative and emotional punch".
15.
Ben Shepherd sang vocals and played guitar in Hater, in addition to writing several songs on the band's first release, a self-titled album.
16.
Ben Shepherd has said that "Half" was a song he wrote in case his daughter ever wanted to learn guitar.
17.
Ben Shepherd once said he penned the music for "Never Named" at the age of sixteen.
18.
Ben Shepherd was the lead vocalist on the first Wellwater Conspiracy album, Declaration of Conformity.
19.
In 2005, Ben Shepherd formed the shortly lived band Unkmongoni and released the second Hater album, The 2nd.
20.
In 2008, following the sale of the warehouse Soundgarden's equipment was being stored in, Ben Shepherd was robbed of all his equipment including guitars, basses, and amplifiers collected and used through Soundgarden's career, and two records he had completed.
21.
Ben Shepherd has since downplayed the statement, stating that he was only "sleeping on couches in studios when I was recording my solo album", preferring to stay in Seattle rather than go back home to Bainbridge Island.
22.
On January 1,2010, Chris Cornell confirmed that Soundgarden would reunite, with Ben Shepherd playing as their bassist again.
23.
Ben Shepherd originally intended for the songs to be just voice and acoustic guitar, but soon Matt Cameron and Matt Chamberlain offered up their services on drums.
24.
On June 25,2013, Ben Shepherd announced he would be releasing the solo album entitled In Deep Owl on August 27,2013, under the name HBS.
25.
Ben Shepherd is the partial owner of an upscale Seattle bar called Hazlewood.
26.
Ben Shepherd started playing bass trying to replace former Soundgarden bassist Hiro Yamamoto.
27.
Ben Shepherd considers that he approaches guitars "like a horn section", split between rhythm and lead, while "Bass is more fluid; you're a lot more free to do stuff because it's a song within a song".
28.
Rather than the more common practice of synchronizing with the drummer, Ben Shepherd's preference is to play the bass along to the vocals, as "it helps to harmonize".
29.
In 2008, Ben Shepherd had all of his equipment stolen from Soundgarden's storage warehouse, forcing him to buy new instruments and amplifiers.
30.
Ben Shepherd used a mixture of Ampeg and Mesa for recording, but led more to the Mesa's live in Soundgarden.
31.
Ben Shepherd uses GHS Bass Boomers Heavy gauge, and likes them to be as worn as possible, oftentimes leaving them on for years until they eventually break.
32.
Ben Shepherd has used the Leo Quan Badass Bass II bridge and continues to use them on almost all his Fenders.