Ben Wilson’s music career began in Gloucester, with a little help from his friends.

“When I was quite young I got given an old acoustic guitar from Mark Kembrey who lived across from my grandparent’s property and used to gig locally with Mick Standen,” Ben remembers.

“I used to sit on the veranda at home pretending to play.”

“It wasn’t until Mark’s son Dan showed me how to play Bob Dylan’s Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door and America’s Horse With No Name, that I really got hooked,” he said.

He was around 10 years old when he first picked up the guitar and now his band, Ralway Bell has been invited to play at the 2018 Dashville Skyline Cosmic Country Weekender.

Last year, the band toured for over 20 shows across four states after playing at the Wingham Akoostik Festival inline with the release of their new album, Dear Friends.

The former Gloucester High School captain now lives in Perth but his music roots are firmly planted in Gloucester.

He was in his first band, Pandemonium with a few of his mates in year nine and even wrote a few original songs.

“It’s hilarious to go back and listen to those songs and try to figure out what the hell must have been going on in my pubescent head at the time.”

The band played lots of school gigs and the occasional community event with the biggest being, Rock The Bucketts in 2000.

Ben admits he wasn’t much of a music student, especially when it came to theory and practice.

“I was a terrible trombone player in high school,” he said.

Since then, Ben has ventured into the alternative-country/Americana territory with Ralway Bell starting off as a solo project in 2012.

“I enlisted the musical and recording skills of long time buddy Matt Landers (also a Gloucester boy) to help record and produce the tracks,” Ben explained. 

“I was still trying to come up with a name for the act when Matt and I reminisced about our days as kids riding pushbikes down Bundook Road from my house as far as the Railway Bells. I figured I needed a name that could be used as a solo act and not need to be changed when the band came along.”

“I landed on Ralway Bell.”

By May 2013, Ben had a five piece band.

With no major plans to conquer the music world, Ben is just enjoying the ride.

Ralway Bell will be performing on Saturday September 29 on the Willie Wall stage of the 2018 Dashville Skyline Cosmic Country Weekender in Belford, Hunter Valley.