Ben Mink

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Ben Mink (born January 22, 1951) is a Canadian songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer.

Born in Detroit, Michigan of Polish parents, Mink was raised in Cleveland, Ohio. His family moved to Toronto, Ontario when he was 11.

Mink plays several string instruments, including the guitar, the violin and the mandolin, and is an award-winning music producer. He is best-known as a long-time collaborator with Canadian singer k.d. lang. Mink has played on and produced several of her albums, which often combine her voice with lush string arrangements.

He began playing in bands in Toronto clubs when he was 18. In 1985, he met lang and their collaboration began. Before then Mink was a member of the bands Stringband, FM and CANO, and a sometime collaborator with Mendelson Joe. Mink played the electric violin on the Rush song "Losing It" found on Signals (1982), as well as guitar parts on My Favourite Headache (2000), a solo project of Rush's lead singer Geddy Lee. More recently he has produced albums for the Barenaked Ladies, and Inuit singer Susan Aglukark.

[edit] Awards

In 1990, Mink was co-nominated with lang for a Best Country Song Grammy for "Luck In My Eyes". In 1993, he and lang won a Juno Award for Best Songwriter of the Year. Continuing his partnership with lang, a year later the pair won another Juno for Producer of the Year for the song "Just Keep Me Moving" on Even Cowgirls Get the Blues.