In this episode of Backstage Bay Area, host Steve Roby interviews Ben Folds, the pianist, songwriter, and arts advocate who has spent three decades balancing sharp, story-driven pop songs with orchestral ambition. Fresh off the release of Ben Folds Live with the National Symphony Orchestra and deep into his work on the new holiday album Sleigher, Folds discusses what it means to keep art alive in a noisy, distracted culture.

The conversation shifts from his years at the Kennedy Center to the details of writing for orchestra, from the small dramas within songs like “Christine From The Seventh Grade” and “But Wait, There’s More” to the quirky, reflective world of his upcoming Christmas shows at SFJAZZ. Along the way, Folds explores his long-standing Keys For Kids initiative and explains why access to instruments and music education still feels crucial to him.

• How Ben Folds thinks about moving between rock clubs, concert halls, and orchestras without changing the core of his songwriting.

• The story behind “Christine From The Seventh Grade” and why some songs invite a full orchestral treatment while others do not.

• Why “But Wait, There’s More” became a centerpiece about information overload, conspiracy thinking, and the carnival atmosphere of modern media.

• What Folds learned during his tenure as Artistic Advisor to the National Symphony Orchestra and how that shaped his view of orchestration as storytelling.

• How his Keys For Kids program puts instruments and lessons into the hands of young players, and why he sees creativity as a basic civic skill, not a luxury.

• The ideas and scenes that shaped the Christmas album Sleigher, from collapsing inflatable Santas to the sense of Christmas as a personal time machine.

• What to expect from his informal, story-rich holiday shows at SFJAZZ’s Miner Auditorium with Lindsey Kraft, Ross Garren, and his touring band.

• Ben Folds Live with the National Symphony Orchestra – new live album documenting two sold-out nights at the Kennedy Center.

• “Christine From The Seventh Grade” – expanded from a studio track into a full orchestral narrative.

• “But Wait, There’s More” – from chamber piece to orchestral meditation on information overload.

• Sleigher – Folds’s offbeat, reflective Christmas album that anchors the SFJAZZ holiday shows.

• Keys For Kids – his long-running initiative supporting access to instruments and music education.

Ben Folds brings his holiday program to SFJAZZ’s Miner Auditorium on Monday, December 8, and Tuesday, December 9, 2025.

Both shows begin at 7:30 p.m. at Miner Auditorium in San Francisco.

Tickets and full event details: https://www.sfjazz.org/tickets/productions/25-26/ben-folds/

Ben Folds – official website: https://www.benfolds.com

SFJAZZ event page: https://www.sfjazz.org/tickets/productions/25-26/ben-folds/

Backstage Bay Area – more episodes and concert coverage: https://www.backstagebayarea.com