Ben Garnett
photo credit : Natia Cinco
Acoustic guitarist-composer Ben Garnett writes original instrumental music in the progressive acoustic tradition of Punch Brothers and Hawktail. His debut album, Imitation Fields (2023), was produced by Chris Eldridge of Punch Brothers, and Kite's Keep (2025) features Brittany Haas & Darol Anger (fiddle), Paul Kowert & Ethan Jodziewicz (bass), and Eldridge (additional guitar).
His work rests on a simple idea: putting the guitar at the center of the music doesn't mean putting it on top. In his hands, the guitar functions less as a lead voice than as a compositional instrument, generating melody, harmony, and rhythm and handing them out to the players around him. Onstage he leads the Ben Garnett Trio with Ben Plotnick (The Fretless) on fiddle and Nate Sabat (Mile Twelve) on bass, moving between composed ensemble writing and open improvisation, drawing equally on string band, jazz, and chamber music.
A a key player with Missy Raines & Allegheny and the progressive string band Circus No. 9, Garnett has performed on the Grand Ole Opry at the Ryman Auditorium and at Big Ears, Grey Fox, the Rochester Jazz Festival, and the Philadelphia Folk Festival, and has toured the US, Canada, France, Sweden, Australia, and New Zealand. He has taught at Berklee College of Music, East Tennessee State University, Grenna Bluegrass Academy in Sweden, and camps including Targhee, Ashokan, and Great Lakes.
His third album, New Wilderness, made with Ben Plotnick, Ethan Jodziewicz, and special guest Rob Burger (Tin Hat Trio), comes out in March 2027 on AGS Recordings, the label of Joel Harrison's Alternative Guitar Summit.
NOW BOOKING CONCERTS + FESTIVALS IN THE US + CANADA
"Newgrass and new acoustic music have been thriving for 50 years now, long enough that you think you've heard it all, until Ben Garnett comes along to show us how much more there might be."
— Premier Guitar
"Garnett and his collaborators sculpt imaginative sonic landscapes."
— Bluegrass Unlimited
"Ben Garnett manages to transcend the guitar itself, embracing its format while explosively celebrating the instrument as a compositional tool."