MM : All musicians remember their first instrument . Tell our readers about your very first guitar .
BC : My first guitar was actually my father ’ s old 1979 Ovation Matrix . When I wanted to learn how to play guitar , my parents said they would sign me up for lessons , but told me to use my dad ’ s old guitar since they thought I would lose interest after a month or so . I haven ’ t lost interest yet , and I still have that guitar !
MM : What ’ s the one venue in the world you would play in if you could ?
BC : That ’ s a tough question . I really want to travel , and I hoping I can someday tour internationally with The Ben Cote Band . I ’ ve always wanted to go to Japan and England . But if I had to choose ONE venue , I would have to say the Rathskeller aka “ The Rat ” in Boston . Unfortunately , it no longer exists . I believe a luxury hotel is there now . Boston legends , as well as lot of other Rock legends that are not from Boston , played there . From what I ’ ve heard , it was basically Boston ’ s version of CBGB ’ s . CBGB ’ s would be another venue I would want to play at if it still existed ! I love those really grimy punk venues -- there ’ s so much character to them . They ARE Rock N ’ Roll !
MM : Who is the one musician , living or passed , that you would want to play with if you could ?
BC : That ’ s an even tougher question ! I would probably have to say Eric Clapton . The way he plays , I mean , that ’ s playing with soul ! Plus , he ’ s a guy who has really been through it all . He was there during the British Invasion era , and is still making music now . I ’ d love to meet him and just pick his brain for a while .
MM : Tell us about your projects , including the Ben Cote Band .
BC : The Ben Cote Band is my main focus now . I ’ m the guitarist and occasional singer . It ’ s an all-Berklee band and made up of some of the best musicians I ’ ve ever played with . Dan Whitelock is the lead singer and also plays saxophone . Max Dziewit plays bass , and Taka Nakamura is the drummer . It ’ s just straight ahead Rock with some Pop hooks … kind of like Led Zeppelin or Aerosmith . We have an EP and an album on iTunes ; both were produced by the Boston legend , David Minehan . We play a lot of shows all over the New England area . We ’ ve been starting to get a lot of attention lately , and we have been getting a lot of international radio airplay in places such as London , Italy , and Japan . We are also getting ready to release our new single ( also produced by Minehan ), along with a music video for it , this summer .
I have worked with a couple other bands . I played guitar with the national rock group Road Dawg , with whom I opened for bands such as Bret Michaels , Warrant , Lita Ford , and Vince Neil , to name a few . I had a lot of great experiences from playing with them . I got to travel to Nashville to play at Farm Rock 2016 , and at another show , I got to share a dressing room with Lita Ford ! It was all very surreal to me , and I learned a lot .
Through Road Dawg , I met singer Scotty Dunbar , who I formed The Split Ends with . The Split Ends is a side project that is still in the making . Scotty Dunbar is a really good friend and a really cool guy . We haven ’ t played any shows yet , but we are hitting the road later this summer . We have a couple shows in New Jersey and New York at the end of July . We have been writing some new music , so we are planning on heading into the studio soon . We are also going to be heading out west this Fall , to play at the Whisky A Go Go in Hollywood . I ’ m really looking forward to it !
Check out Ben Cote on iTunes , YouTube , and all the social media platforms . Better yet , if you ’ re in Boston – go seem him live !
The Ben Cote Band is : Lead Vocals – Dan Whitelock Lead Guitar and Vocals – Ben Cote Bass Guitar – Max Dziewit Drums – Taka Nakamura