Guest: Ben Scales

Before moving to North Carolina last year, Ben Scales lived 10 years on the tropical island of Saipan, in the western Pacific Ocean, 10,000 miles from the Southeastern U.S., where he grew up. Over years of steady gigging throughout Micronesia and Hawaii, Ben’s Americana roots rock style was influenced by the poly-ethnic rhythms of the island’s diverse music scene.

From 1993-2003, Ben lived on the island of Saipan, and if you've any connection to the island, then you might just have heard of him. Maybe you met him on the beach. Or at the grocery store, the softball game, your uncle's birthday party, your sister's wedding, your office Christmas party. You heard him singing in the bars, and a couple of times, at church. You've seen him play at a festival, and sit in with the band at the club. You've seen him on TV and his picture in the paper. Frankly, if you live on Saipan, you're probably tired of Ben Scales.

Living on Saipan, a long (long) way from the big music centers, Ben eagerly embraced the MP3 technology. Through his MP3.com site, which, due to corporate greed, is now offline, he was able to measure his music's appeal outside of the two or three bars where he used to play on Saipan, and it was encouraging. One of his songs, "She Loves Me," was in the top 10 of the MP3.com Acoustic charts five different times over a period of three years. Another song, "After You Let Go" went straight to Number 1 on that same chart as soon as Ben released it in February 2002.

But Ben's biggest hit by far has been "Growing Marijuana In My Yard." Released in December 2002, it reached the top of the Bluegrass chart on February 10, 2003, and stayed there at Number 1 for 10 months, until MP3.com was shut down in December 2003. During that time it also reached Number 5 on the Country charts, surrounded by acts such as Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Kenny Rogers, George Strait, Mark Chesnutt, and Shania Twain (Mark's grand-niece?).