With a head full of curly black hair and prominent front teeth, the energetic elementary kid who was the class clown and could never stop talking had a secret hobby. Almost every night before going to bed, he would record himself singing back and forth into two cassette recorders, building a cappella choirs part by part. Autotune, digital shortcuts, and unlimited computer takes weren’t a thing yet; he filled scores of cassettes and, later, reel-to-reels with multi-tracked a cappella music recorded “the hard way” with no guide tracks or metronome.
Not bad for the only kid to be rejected from the elementary children’s choir due to “not having a musical ear.”
Ben Everson grew up in a musical family with both parents gifted and heavily involved in both music education and music ministry. Interested primarily in brass instruments, he didn’t tell very many people about his a cappella hobby until a former Hollywood studio engineer moved in across the street. He offered to give Ben a chance to record during the summer before 8th grade. 4 hours later, Ben had written and recorded an 18-voice a cappella song. He told Ben he had never run across such a talented musical ear at so young an age.
The man moved away soon after, but the encouragement from the producer as well as singing with a local barbershop quartet gave Ben the push he needed.
From that point forward, Ben developed a voracious appetite for a cappella music. He would listen to barbershop quartets, write out the parts, and sing them himself. He formed numerous singing groups in high school and music camps. He studied voice with the late Gwendolyn Pike of Midland, Michigan, and began singing in musical theatre.
“At that point, I was thinking that maybe I’d make a career out of musical performance and entertainment,” Ben says. But it all changed when God called him to preach as a high school sophomore. “Entertainment was not going to be my future. Preaching the Word and using music as encouragement has been my calling since that point.”
Three decades later, Evangelist Ben Everson has ministered along with his family throughout the United States as well as internationally, preaching the Bible and giving concerts that include his one-man a cappella compositions. He has recorded nearly 40 albums in various genres and serves as a musical consultant for numerous ministries and projects. He has no intention of stopping, although the constant road life is tiring.
“Preaching the Word will always be my primary calling, so I never want to completely stop traveling. But I hope to be able to spend more time writing and recording based out of my [Pensacola, Florida] home.”
Find out more about Ben through his website, beneverson.com or his Ben Everson Music channel on YouTube.