Ben Barnes On His New “Songs For You” EP, Juggling Acting & Musical Careers, Influences, TV & More

Television and film viewers all over the globe ought to recognize Ben Barnes for his top-notch roles, including Prince Caspian from the Chronicles Of Narnia franchise), Billy Russo from Marvel’s The Punisher, Logan Delos from HBO’s Westworld, Neil McCormick in Killing Bono, and General Kirigan in the Netflix’s series Shadow & Bone. Yet 2021 has proven to be another big year for Barnes personally and professionally, as he is not only celebrating the big milestone of a 40th birthday and the recent renewal of Shadow & Bone for a second season, but also releasing his debut EP as a musical artist.

Named Songs For You — a title inspired by a classic Leon Russell track — Ben Barnes’ new EP features 5 songs which were lovingly-crafted at his piano at home and presented unedited and straight from the heart. Set for release on October 15, 2021 via Label Logic, as distributed by Ingrooves, “11:11” was the first song many experienced by Barnes. A track that could not be contained to 1 single genre, “11:11” features a soul-pop vocal soars over a jazzy piano, sacred-feeling organ, Queen-inspired guitars and a bursting “Penny Lane” piccolo trumpet fanfare. The track, like the rest of Songs For You was produced by John Alagia (Paul Simon, Dave Matthews, John Mayer, Herbie Hancock, Rachael Yamagata) and Jesse Siebenberg (Ke$ha, Miranda Lambert, Neil Young, Kenny Loggins, Michael McDonald).

On October 13, 2021, I had the pleasure of speaking with Ben Barnes via Zoom, as embedded below. Beyond Songs For You, we discussed his background as a drummer, musical influences, the role his family played in his musical endeavors, future career plans and what he is watching on television these days. More on Barnes and Songs For You can be found by clicking here, here, here and here.

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Tags: Ben Barnes, Jesse Siebenberg, John Alagia, Leon Russell, Netflix, Shadow & Bone, The Punisher, Westworld

About the Author

Darren Paltrowitz Darren Paltrowitz is a New York resident with over 20 years of entertainment industry experience. He began working around the music business as a teenager, interning for the manager of his then-favorite band Superdrag. Since then, he has worked with a wide array of artists including OK Go, They Might Be Giants, Mike Viola, Tracy Bonham, Loudness, Rachael Yamagata, and Amanda Palmer. Darren's writing has appeared in dozens of outlets including the New York Daily News, Inquisitr, The Daily Meal, The Hype Magazine, All Music Guide, Guitar World, TheStreet.com, Businessweek, Chicago Tribune, L.A. Times, and the Jewish Journal. Beyond being "Editor At Large" for The Hype Magazine, Darren is also the host of weekly "Paltrocast With Darren Paltrowitz" series, which airs on dozens on television and digital networks. He has also co-authored 2 published books, 2018's "Pocket Change: Your Happy Money" (Book Web Publishing) and 2019's "Good Advice From Professional Wrestling" (6623 Press), and co-hosts the world's only known podcast about David Lee Roth, "The DLR Cast."