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	<title>Russell Rathbun &#8211; House of Mercy Music Hall</title>
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	<title>Russell Rathbun &#8211; House of Mercy Music Hall</title>
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		<title>Spotlight on Ben Kyle</title>
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		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Russell Rathbun]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Thu, 05 Feb 2026 22:14:33 +0000</pubDate>
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					<description><![CDATA[Minneapolis based Ben Kyle is the Belfast born singer/songwriter and architect&#160;behind the Irish-Americana outfit Romantica,&#160;the self-titled album&#160;BEN KYLEand the&#160;&#160;award-winning songs Mercy and Don&#8217;t Settle.&#160; American Songwriter&#160;described&#160;Mercyas&#160;&#8220;Perfect&#8221; and&#160;the Huffington Post&#160;has&#160;dubbed&#160;Kyle &#8220;A Sleeping Giant.&#8221;&#160; The recipient&#160;of 10&#160;International Songwriting Competition awards,&#160;Ben has&#160;worked&#160;with&#160;Ringo Starr,&#160;Ryan Adams,&#160; Lucinda Williams,&#160;Alejandro Escovedo,&#160;Sara Watkins&#160;and&#160;Dan Wilson&#160;and&#160;collaborated with Austin, TX&#160;roots sweetheart&#160;Carrie Rodriguez,&#160;on the&#160;duets&#160;album&#160;We Still Love Our Country;&#160;a subtle&#160;collection of country standards and sprightly originals that enjoyed radio success in the States,&#160;Europe and the UK. Emigrating&#160;to Minnesota from Belfast, Northern Ireland with his family as a teen, Kyle synthesized&#160;the Roots sound&#160;he absorbed in midwestern&#160;America with&#160;his childhood&#160;steeped in&#160;Irish folk music&#160;and went on&#160;to release&#160;5 heralded albums as the singer/songwriter and voice behind the Americana critical darlings Romantica.&#160; Paste Magazine&#160;named&#160;Romantica&#8217;s 2007 release America &#8220;One of the Best Albums of 2007&#8221;,&#160;although&#160;No Depression&#160;declared that their 2016 release&#160;Shadowlands&#160;was &#8220;Undeniably their best.&#8221; In early 2016, Ben fell ill with an acute expression of&#160;Lyme Disease. Eight years&#160;and a&#160;deep&#160;healing journey later, he is overcoming&#160;and&#160;returning to the studio and stage with a&#160;new inspiration&#160;that promises beautiful things to come.]]></description>
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<p class="">Minneapolis based <strong>Ben Kyle</strong> is the Belfast born singer/songwriter and architect&nbsp;behind the Irish-Americana outfit <strong>Romantica</strong>,&nbsp;the self-titled album&nbsp;<a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/ben-kyle/1326710486" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em><strong>BEN KYLE</strong></em></a>and the&nbsp;&nbsp;award-winning songs <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Xo165fW500" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em><strong>Mercy</strong></em></a> and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1IOvMGcxqG4" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em><strong>Don&#8217;t Settle</strong></em></a>.&nbsp; <strong>American Songwriter</strong>&nbsp;described&nbsp;<a href="https://benkyle.com/track/1529981/mercy"><em><strong>Mercy</strong></em></a>as&nbsp;<strong>&#8220;Perfect&#8221;</strong> and&nbsp;the <strong>Huffington Post</strong>&nbsp;has&nbsp;dubbed&nbsp;Kyle <strong>&#8220;A Sleeping Giant.&#8221;&nbsp;</strong></p>



<p class="">The recipient&nbsp;of <strong>10&nbsp;International Songwriting Competition awards</strong>,&nbsp;Ben has&nbsp;worked&nbsp;with&nbsp;<strong>Ringo Starr,&nbsp;Ryan Adams,</strong>&nbsp; <strong>Lucinda Williams,&nbsp;Alejandro Escovedo,&nbsp;Sara Watkins</strong>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<strong>Dan Wilson&nbsp;</strong>and&nbsp;collaborated with Austin, TX&nbsp;roots sweetheart&nbsp;<strong>Carrie Rodriguez</strong>,&nbsp;on the&nbsp;duets&nbsp;album&nbsp;<a href="https://benkyle.com/album/846161/we-still-love-our-country"><em><strong>We Still Love Our Country</strong></em></a><em>;</em>&nbsp;a subtle&nbsp;collection of country standards and sprightly originals that enjoyed radio success in the States,&nbsp;Europe and the UK.</p>



<p class="">Emigrating&nbsp;to <strong>Minnesota </strong>from<strong> Belfast, Northern Ireland</strong> with his family as a teen, Kyle synthesized&nbsp;the Roots sound&nbsp;he absorbed in midwestern&nbsp;America with&nbsp;his childhood&nbsp;steeped in&nbsp;Irish folk music&nbsp;and went on&nbsp;to release&nbsp;5 heralded albums as the singer/songwriter and voice behind the Americana critical darlings <strong>Romantica</strong>.&nbsp; <strong>Paste Magazine</strong>&nbsp;named&nbsp;Romantica&#8217;s 2007 release <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/ca/album/america/1326541524" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em><strong>America</strong></em></a><strong> &#8220;One of the Best Albums of 2007&#8221;,</strong>&nbsp;although&nbsp;<strong>No Depression</strong>&nbsp;declared that their 2016 release&nbsp;<a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/shadowlands/1360102858" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em><strong>Shadowlands</strong></em></a>&nbsp;was <strong>&#8220;Undeniably their best.&#8221;</strong></p>



<p class="">In early 2016, Ben fell ill with an acute expression of&nbsp;<strong>Lyme Disease. </strong>Eight years&nbsp;and a&nbsp;deep&nbsp;healing journey later, he is overcoming&nbsp;and&nbsp;returning to the studio and stage with a&nbsp;new inspiration&nbsp;that promises beautiful things to come.</p>



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