Ben Ballinger makes roots music with an emotional depth and songwriting mastery rarely heard on the Americana scene. A balladeer in the truest sense, Ballinger comes off as a craftsman, building fine-tuned melodies out of roughhewn passions. Ballinger mines every bit of his existence, a lifetime worth of triumph and disappointment and discovery, panning through the spiritual silt for a golden truth.

Another from-the-hip melodic twist, another gut-wrenching insight, and one more late-night starry-eyed rhythm and rhyme.

After digging deep into the Austin, Texas scene for the past few years, Ballinger easily stands out among the pack of would-be Country soulmen with an undeniably genuine Northwest brogue and the kind of hardscrabble lyrical chops that can only come from experience, solitude and struggle.

Ballinger consistently achieves what all troubadours aim for—he tells us his story, while letting it be our story.

Born in Strong, Maine. Living in Austin, Texas.

“Elsa Cross plays David Lynch’s kind of rockabilly.”
– Austin American-Statesman

“Imagine the darkest of scenarios enveloping you in eerily beautiful tones, as though Johnny Cash or perhaps Tom Waits had a sister.”
– Laurie Gallardo, KUTX 98.9 Austin

“Elsa Cross should have been touring with Johnny Cash in his American recording days.”
– Performer Magazine

“There is a controlled ferocity to her tone and lyrics, even in the music’s softest moments, and the songs would seem equally appropriate if performed on a horse ranch or in a Hell’s Kitchen lounge.”
– The Wire

“Eddie Spaghetti and The Reverend Horton Heat would both fall in love with this woman.”
– Spotlight Magazine