A.J. Benson  

NYGF General Manager A.J. Benson’s earliest musical memories are of puzzling over his parents’ Mamas & Papas, Dave Brubeck, Trini Lopez and Herb Alpert LPs as a kid in Connecticut. He’s spent the last fifteen years in the music industry, in a number of executive and consulting capacities at Arista Records, RCA Music Group, Virgin Records America, and Cherry Lane Music, overseeing various aspects of projects for Aretha Franklin, Patti Smith, Ben Harper, OutKast, Barry Manilow, Whitney Houston, Foo Fighters, The Notorious B.I.G., Dave Matthews, several American Idols, and many other artists in between. He is currently managing recording projects at the Island Def Jam Music Group, where he’s worked with The Roots, Johnny Cash’s estate, The Bravery, Melissa Etheridge, Duffy, Ron Isley, and a number of developing artists. He joined The New York Guitar Festival in 2005.

He co-produced (with David Spelman) January 2007’s capacity-crowd American Beauty Project at New York City’s Winter Garden, which featured Jorma Kaukonen, Jay Farrar, Mark Eitzel, The Klezmatics, Ollabelle, Railroad Earth, Espers, and many others covering songs from the Grateful Dead’s “American Beauty” and “Workingman’s Dead” albums.

He also co-produced (also with David) The Big River Project, a Johnny Cash tribute concert, which included performances by John Doe, Jay Farrar, Ollabelle, Benevento-Russ Duo, Marshall Crenshaw, David Bromberg, and others, as part of New York City’s 2008 River To River Festival, the largest free summertime arts festival in the country.

Prior to becoming a productive member of society, and when not diligently studying in high school and working on his journalism degree at the University of Connecticut in the 1980s, he followed the Grateful Dead around the continent and wrote numerous published pieces covering music, politics, and social issues. He recently overcame his fear of the classroom and has enrolled in New York University’s Arts Management program.

Biggest career coup to date: somehow persuading a very generous Bruce Springsteen to show up and perform at the Festival’s 2006 launch concert, The Nebraska Project.