Ben Bjorlie grew up in a household where the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra wasn't just background music—it was the family business. His mother played cello, his father played bass, and by the time Ben hit fifth grade, he was starting on clarinet, eventually landing spots in the National Honors Band and every all-state ensemble that would have him. Then at 13, he picked up his dad's bass and started learning Stanley Clarke and Marcus Miller tunes by ear, which is the musical equivalent of learning to drive on a Formula One racetrack.
Somewhere between high school marching band drum line and his undergraduate percussion degree at Appalachian State, Bjorlie developed a dangerous superpower: complete fluency on both bass and drums, which means he understands rhythm from both sides of the conversation—he's the guy who knows what the bass player needs from the drummer and what the drummer needs from the bass player, because he's spent decades being both people.
Since moving to Asheville in 1998, Bjorlie has become one of those musicians other musicians call when they need someone who can play literally anything—funk, bebop, Latin, swing, big band, salsa—with the kind of taste and sensitivity that comes from actually listening instead of just executing. For over a decade, he's been the house bassist at Asheville Music Hall's Tuesday funk jam and the house drummer at Barley's Thursday jazz jam, which is code for "he's logged more stage hours than most people log sleep hours."
He's played with the Asheville Horns, Bayou Diesel, Orange Krush, Nuevo Montuno Salsa Orchestra, David Zoll Trio, Asheville Jazz Orchestra, Spork!, and countless other projects that needed someone who could read the room, read the chart, and make everyone else sound better. And when he's not performing, he's teaching the next generation at Asheville Music School—because apparently being proficient on bass, drums, AND guitar while maintaining dual careers as an educator and working musician isn't enough of a challenge.
