Ben Sollee is an indie folk singer/songwriter and cellist from Louisville, Kentucky who is known for his cross-genre sound. With a soulful croon that seems wise beyond his years, Sollee creates music with a diverse batch of elements and a repertoire of instruments that includes a banjo, guitar, mandolin, a variety of percussion tools and his instrument of choice, a cello. Though his songs usually revolve around his percussive and studied cello playing, his incorporation of both classical and modern string instruments lends his music a timeless quality. Inspired by the soul tunes of Otis Redding and Sam Cooke, Sollee has been using his voice to inject his genre-blending sound with a healthy dose of effortless emotion starting with his 2008 debut LP, Learning to Bend.