Ben Caplan

Born in Hamilton, Ontario, in 1986 and based in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Ben Caplan develops songwriting rooted in North American folk, tinged with klezmer textures and Eastern European influences. Initially active on the local scene around 2010, he gained attention with his backing band The Casual Smokers before touring extensively across Canada, Europe and Australia. Caplan’s debut album, In the Time of the Great Remembering (2011), established a style that blends acoustic ballads, rock-leaning tempos and a distinctive vocal presence; it was followed in 2015 by Birds with Broken Wings, where his writing broadened to include brass and string arrangements inspired by Jewish and Balkan traditional music. In 2018 he recorded Old Stock — an album adaptation of the theatrical production Old Stock: A Refugee Love Story, co-created with playwright Hannah Moscovitch and director Christian Barry — reinforcing the connection between his musical work and a narrative, cabaret-like approach. With Recollection (2020) Caplan revisited several songs from his repertoire in pared-back versions, confirming an artistic universe centered on voice, storytelling and a hybrid folk idiom with rootsy and theatrical accents.