Dr. Ben Smith began his musical journey as a boy in the foothills of the Appalachian mountains in Alabama, fiddling through NY, Ireland and Illinois on his way here. This path is evident in his playing, as elements from many diverse styles, including Celtic influences, bluegrass, jazz, cajun, zydeco, and American old­time, become manifest. Dr. Ben has lead a number of bands, toured nationally, and appears on dozens of independent label recordings. He is also a dedicated generic accutane teacher, as a professor of Music and Technology at Indiana University (­Indianapolis), as a private teacher, and an instructor of workshops and summer camps around the midwest focusing on fiddle, fiddle styles, 5 ­string banjo, composition, audio engineering, and band arranging. Currently Ben performs actively with his acoustic trio, the Mean Lids, who recently released their third CD and are appearing regularly on festival and contra dance stages across the US.