Big Ben Hillman

There's an old saying in the music business: "play the room." True to that statement, Big Ben and his crew can be smooth and mellow or they can turn up the volume and kick out the jams, depending on your needs and the atmosphere you're trying to achieve at your club or function. Wether he's crooning like Frank Sinatra on "Night and Day" or shouting like James Brown on "Sex Machine" Big Ben is versatile and can bring something to please any crowd while always maintaining a sense of artistry and professionalism.

Big Ben Hillman is an award-winning singer-songwriter whose style is a blend of old school funk and contemporary soul, with a touch of jazz, blues and even hip hop.

Hillman was born in Boston and began his musical career at an early age, playing drums with local bands. As a high school student he would begin to play the keyboards as his desire to write and arrange his own music grew stronger. Attending the University of Massachusetts at Lowell, Hillman would study both percussion and keyboards while earning a degree in music composition.

Eventually Hillman would make a name for himself as a well known keyboard player in Boston's hard-core funk scene, playing with some of the biggest names in local music, such as The Boston Horns, saxophonist Sam Kininger (of Soul Live) and hip hop artist D-Tension.

It was during this period that Hillman also began hosting a popular radio program called “Soul Power 91.5” which could be heard Wednesday nights on WUML in Lowell, MA.

Over the course of his career, Hillman has shared the stage with a host of diverse and well known musicians including hip hop stars Method Man and Ghostface Killa from the Wu Tang Clan, De La Soul, Biz Markie, Digable Planets and Mix Master Mike of The Beasty Boys. He has also been seen performing with rock legends Les Claypool and Jimmy Buffet.

In the early 2000s, Hillman formed a group called The Royal Family. It was with at this time that he penned his most memorable tune thus far, “It Must Have Been the Music” which had become a hit at dance clubs and received airplay on both sides of the Atlantic.

In 2007 yet another successful single was released a entitled "I'm Sorry" which was accompanied by an award winning music video. It was at this time that Hillman expanded his operation, taking his band out of Boston and performing in Philadelphia, New York, Washington DC, Toronto, the Caribbean and most recently an extended tour of Shanghai, China.