After playing in several small independent bands throughout the late 80s and into the early 90s, Folds came to prominence as the frontman and pianist of the alternative rock trio Ben Folds Five from to , and again during their reunion from to He has recorded a number of solo albums β the most recent of which, What Matters Most , was released in June He has also collaborated with musicians such as Regina Spektor , "Weird Al" Yankovic , and yMusic , and undertaken experimental songwriting projects with actor William Shatner and authors such as Nick Hornby and Neil Gaiman.
Folds has frequently performed arrangements of his music with uncommon instrumentation for rock and pop music, including symphony orchestras and a cappella groups. In addition to contributing music to the soundtracks of the animated films Hoodwinked! Folds was born in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. He became interested in piano at age nine. His father, a carpenter, brought one home through a barter trade with a customer who was unable to pay.
Reynolds High School in Winston-Salem , Folds played in several bands as the pianist, bassist, or drummer. Folds attended the University of Miami 's Frost School of Music on a full percussion scholarship, but dropped out after having failed 'the jury' and losing his scholarship.
After leaving Miami, he returned to North Carolina and enrolled at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro for the fall semester of Folds would acknowledge the impact of Darnell on his appreciation of music in his memoir A Dream About Lightning Bugs.
They played their first gig at Duke University 's Battle of the Bands in , and won. The EP has four songs, none of which are about Jesus. They recorded Shut Up and Listen to Majosha in After Majosha broke up, Folds played drums in a band called Pots and Pans with Evan Olson on bass and Britt "Snuzz" Uzzell on guitar and vocals, but the newly formed band lasted only about a month.
