Bob Manor and the Getaway Drivers are an Americana band featuring original songs that explore life, love, restlessness, defiance, disillusionment and hope in the backdrop of the American heartland. The music is acoustically driven, featuring acoustic guitar, lap-steel and mandolin, drums, bass and piano. One can hear influences of rock, country and folk.

Iowa City-based folk singer/songwriter Ben Schmidt is a visionary lyricist and outstanding acoustic finger-style and slide guitar wizard. He self-produced his first CD, Write It Down, in 2002, and just released his second CD, While You Were Sleeping, in July of 2005. Cohesive and musically intricate, While You Were Sleeping speaks to contemporary issues in our culture, and gives a mature voice to classic themes of love and loss.

Ben is a favorite of public radio stations and is a featured artist on WSUI---s Java Blend compilation CD, as well as KUNI---s Best of Live from Studio One compilation disc.

Called ---an extraordinary talent--- and ---the total package--- by music critic Jim Musser (No Depression), Ben is influenced by a vast range of musicians and musical genres, most prominently folk and Mississippi delta blues. He is self-taught and has been playing guitar for 20 years and writing songs since he was fifteen. The landscapes of his songs draw equally from his upbringing in Chicago, as well as his current home in Iowa City, Iowa.

Ben performs regularly throughout the Midwest and his songs can be heard internationally on independent and public radio programs.