Robert Ewell Sledge (born March 9, 1968) is an American musician, best known for his work with Ben Folds Five.
Biography
Robert Sledge began playing bass guitar at the age of eleven. His brother was playing guitar at his house so he also learned how to play the guitar at the same time. Before playing with Ben Folds Five he was bassist for bands Toxic Popsickle and Lexx Luthor (with Godsmack's Sully Erna).[1]
Ben Folds Five
Robert was a founding member of the piano-rock trio Ben Folds Five. Robert was the bass player for the group as well as taking up backup vocal duties on almost every song at the time. During the eponymous tour in support of their album The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner, Robert began to use several synthesizers on stage, as well as his typical electric & acoustic basses. These would remain until the band's break up in 2000.
Robert is known for his unique use of a Big Muff pedal, used to provide a layer of fuzz distortion on top of his typical bass tone. Sledge played a Hamer Blitz Bass throughout the early years of Ben Folds Five. It was used on their eponymous debut album. He later switched to a Fender Jazz Bass to record Whatever and Ever Amen, while playing his Gibson and EpiphoneLes Paul basses in live shows from that time to the present. Sledge had a sponsorship from Epiphone for his use of the Les Paul Bass, which can be seen in the Ben Folds Five performance on Sessions at West 54th. He also plays an upright double bass for several songs, including "Brick".
Post-Ben Folds Five
After Ben Folds Five broke up, Robert Sledge performed for one summer with the short-lived rock group Brother Seeker, a band composed of Robert and former Squirrel Nut Zippers members Tom Maxwell and Ken Mosher. According to John D. Luerssen's Rivers' Edge: The Weezer Story Sledge was heavily considered to replace Mikey Welsh as the new Weezer bassist in 2001 but instead Scott Shriner took the job.
He later joined the band International Orange, as a songwriter, bassist and vocalist. International Orange broke up in 2005.[2]
Robert currently lives in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, where he gives music lessons and plays in local rock bands "Organ Failure",[3] and "Surrender Human."[4]
Personal life
Sledge lives in Chapel Hill, North Carolina with his wife and son, Henry Sledge, who goes by Archie.
