If you’ve listened to 96X on the FM dial in recent months chances are you’ve heard “Switzerland,” a poignant song sung with passion and backed with folksy instrumentation enhanced with classical-like strings. What you may not be aware of is that the band, Bison, is locally grown from Chesapeake.
Led by guitarist, singer-songwriter Ben Hardest, the eclectic group is comprised by a tight-knit group of family members and friends, including Dan Hardesty, Annah Hardesty, Andrew Benfante, Jay Benfante, Amos Housworth, and Teresa Totheroh.
Bison quietly made its studio album debut in September with Quill.  A movie trailer-like video has been filmed by Illusive Media to help push the album to a national audience.
The popularity of “Switzerland” paired with a high-profile concert at The NorVa has Bison riding high on its self-described “mountaintop chamber music,” where bluegrass meets classical and folk mingles with trendy Americana. Their storytelling approach to songwriting and intricate instrumentation recalls Mumford and Sons and The Decemberists.
Sam McDonals, a music critic at The Daily Press, said of Bison's live NorVa performance, "The stars of [the] show did not disappoint. Bison skillfully performed complex arrangements and delivered songs with passion and sensitivity. The crowd sang along with the group's local hit "Switzerland" and gave a warm reception to many other tunes. Bison is a unique musical outfit that creates an unusual energy on stage. The fact that so many local fans are embracing its sound is good news indeed."
To learn more about Bison, we called Ben Hardesty. Here’s the conversation.

How did the band come together?
It all started around bonfires that we were having at our house that me, my dad, Annah and my friend Andrew just kind of broke out the instruments and started playing. Songs started to form. Then we played them in front of people and they grasped on to them. It’s all grassroots. We just started playing music and it seemed to work.

The image of Bison in your photograph and music video is reminiscent of the American Wild West of the 1800s. Is that by design or did it happen organically?
Honestly, for me, it happened organically. That’s kinda just me. I have a love for history and especially American history and the Westward Expansion and all that. So I guess being the head of the band it just took that form.

Your music blends a lot of genres from folk and classical to Americana and indie pop. How would you prefer to describe your sound?
We’ve been labeling it as two things: Folk-chestrial and Mountaintop Chamber, which I think is my favorite.

Bison had a large crowd at The NorVa show. Tell us about that night.
That night really just worked. We had been talking with The NorVa about doing a show and that was a night that was free. At first we were really skeptical about and didn’t think anyone was going to come out before Thanksgiving. We are all about the community and what needs to happen here, so we said, “Hey, let’s try to raise some food for families that live in the area.”
Our manager, Jacob, went and talked to the 96X guys. They started playing “Switzerland” a few week before that. They jumped on doing the show right away, and so did the Food Bank of South Hampton Roads. So they started promoting it on the radio. By the end of the night there were almost 800 people there.

How did you like performing on The NorVa’s stage in front of that many people?
It was an amazing experience because that was where I had gone to shows since I was 13 and seeing bands that were huge to me. Playing on that stage is special.

Some people care the Bison sound to that of The Decemberists. How do you feel about that labeling?
I don’t mind it. I don’t necessarily like to be pigeonholed. I think that doesn’t necessarily come from our sound, because they are far more Americana than we are. I think it might be because of the storytelling and the lyrics, and the general use of folk instruments. But I think it is a good reference point, yeah.

How do you approach songwriting, being the sole songwriter in the band?
I don’t have a system per se. It really all depends on what clicks. If I have a lyrical idea in my head I’ll form a melody around that. If I have a melody in my head, I’ll form lyrics around that.

How did “Switzerland” go from an idea to a song?
That song is about a real experience I had where I was traveling in Switzerland and ended up being in this area without a place to stay. It was me and my friend Andrew. All of the places to stay were fancy hotels. There was no way to get down from the mountain except for this mountain tram that was already done going down for the night. So we were stuck up there. So finally deciding to go to one of these hotels after attempting to sleep in the foothills of the Alps with our sleeping bags – it didn’t work – we went back to the hotel and it was closed. So we ended up sleeping in this back alley behind a grocery store in the mountains of Switzerland. It was just a sobering experience for me. It left me with a picture of what it’s like not to have what most of us here in the States have. It was in Sierre, Switzerland about two hours from Geneva.

What time of year was that?
It would have been March 19. It was freezing, so cold.

Your manager Jacob Marshall has a lot of experience with record labels and touring as a member of Mae. What does he bring to Bison?
Jacob has a sense of using his connections for us in the best way, and branding us from Virginia and protecting the authenticity we have with the whole family and folksy feel. He will protect us from any labels that would want to come in and change that. He’s helping us build a solid team. He’s basically the eighth member of the band.

What are your goals?
I don’t really plan stuff that much. If the time comes to have the opportunity to sign to a label but it’s not the right thing to do, then we’re not going to do it. If a label can do something we can’t and the deal works out for us and them, if it was a wise choice we’d think about it. But right now we’re not necessarily looking at doing that.

What can you share about your recent performance with the Virginia Symphony Orchestra?
That was quite a blessing for us, just to watch the Symphony play and then go out and play in front of the audience they brought. It was awesome to walk on the stage of Chrysler Hall and see all the people. It’s something most local bands don’t get to do. I was extremely excited and blessed.

How does a local band get asked to join the Virginia Symphony?
Their general manager visited the church I attend and somehow found out about us. He listened to us and really like us. He and the conductor approached us and asked if we’d be interest in doing it. We just did one song. They asked us to do an old sacred hymn.

Do you feel a kinship to those bluegrass artists in the Southwestern mountains of Virginia?
Yeah. We tend to all play like them. They’re amazing. We just play the instruments they play and fill in the tones. I definitely would say we’re influenced by that.

Do you plan to play out locally on a more regular basis?
No, not at all. We’re cutting back from the local shows because we want the ones we do play to be special. We’re spacing them out strategically to bring crowds and invite them into our world for a night.

The Attucks Theatre would be a great venue for Bison.
I’ve been thinking about that. We haven’t contacted them, nor have they contacted us. I think we would fit in.

NOTE: Bison will perform as part of Veer Magazine’s Local Music Awards, Wednesday, February 15 at the Naro Expanded Cinema.