Ben Farmer is a talented musician from Lancaster, who also happens to run Farmerboymusic.

Ben plays and teaches the accordion and melodeon (a Hohner B/C/C# Echo III that he bought in a junk shop in Morecambe for £75 when he was 15 - still his favorite; a Scandalli piano accordion from e-bay! and a Castagnari Mory which he got when his Pokerwork was nicked in France).  He plays a wide variety of styles including Klezmer, English (particularly North West), Irish, Scottish, French, Bretton, Swedish, French Cafe (musette), Tango, Cajun, Cumbia, Quebecoise and Township Jazz.  

He plays in a number of bands - Tabuka, Chouchenn and the Front Parlour Band, as well as solo and in various duos.  He doesn't like writing about himself!

Ben has a beautiful little boy called Ewan and a lovely wife called Jo, and they all live together in a house.

Ben has worked as all sorts of things within the music industry so far as well as some less fun jobs packing chemicals and such like.  If you're into that sort of thing you can look at my very general CV below.  Whilst self-employed I have worked as a community musician, recording artist, session musician, writer, performer, sound engineer (live and recording), composer, arranger, musical director, events manager, artist manager, web designer, specialist retailer and pretty much anything else you'd like to call me.  I pride myself on my enthusiasm for getting stuff done and doing it well (including to budget and time).

 

 

 

 EDUCATIONAL HISTORY

Establishment

From

‘Till

Examination

Grade

Carnforth High School

1986

1991

GCSE Physics

[Grade B]

Carnforth High School
(Head Boy)

1986

1992

GCSEs
English (Lit. and Lan.)
Maths
Sciences (counted as two) Geography
History
French
Drama
Religious Education

 
[Grade A,A]
[Grade A]
[Grade A,A]
[Grade A]
[Grade B]
[Grade B]
[Grade B]
[Grade D]

Ulverston Victoria High

1992

1994

A-Level
General Studies


[Grade E]

Liverpool John Moore’s

1996

1996

Certificate in Prof. Dev.

N/A

Liverpool Institute for the Performing Arts (LIPA)

1997

-

BA (hons) Perf. Arts (Pop. Mus)

ongoing

Liverpool Fire Service

1998

1998

Theatre Fire Officer Cert.

N/A

Inbiz

2003

2003

Health and Safety in the Workplace

N/A

Preston College

2003

2003

CLAIT+

pass

 EMPLOYMENT HISTORY

From

‘Till

Employer

Brief outline of duties

03/2002

06/2003

Promenade Music

Originally employed as retail/admin assistant, but was given control of all educational supplies as Sales Manager.  Was responsible for stock takes, ordering stock, display of goods, sales, till, customer queries, dishwasher, general shop cleanliness, photocopying, website upkeep, invoicing, and sales processing amongst other duties.

2000

2002

Self-Employed

Musician / Community Artist / Festival Director / Composer / Performer and Research Consultant.

2000

2001

Atticus Books

P/T Sales Manager: stocking shelves, buying, stock-taking, sales, till (including book keeping), customer queries, general shop cleanliness.

1995

1997

Labyrinth

P/T Retail Assistant: stocking shelves, till, stock-taking, display of goods, customer queries, washing-up, general shop cleanliness.

1995

1997

Self-Employed

Musician / Community Artist / Performer / Composer

1994

1995

Liverpool Lunchtime Theatre

Musical Director / Workshop Leader

1993

1994

Liverpool Playhouse Theatre

Musician