A new year is upon us…

2025 has been… well, a LOT. Lots of gigs, opportunities, triumphs, defeats, music made, bands lost, ad the list goes on. Going into 2026, things will look a bit different for me in terms of getting out there. That said- I’ve got a good feeling about this year. In some ways it’s building on what’s come before, and in others, it’s as clean of a slate as I’ve had in quite sometime.

• New Things-

  • Hopelessly Devoted- A Tribute to Olivia Newton John- My first show with this group is Saturday, January 3rd at 7pm at Shotzy’s II. It’s been a wholly different style of music than I’m used to, but it’s been a cool change. Plus, it gets my 4 string basses back into rotation. As much as I love my Skjold Drakkar basses, they are a bit overkill for something that a P-Bass with flats can easily do!

  • Pretty When She’s Angry- This is a 4-piece with some great musicans covering 80s thru 2000s rock and pop. I actually played my first gig with these guys back in November, but this year is when it kicks into higher gear. The first show of 2026 is Friday, January 16 at 8:00 at Swagger Sports Bar and Grille in Franklin.

  • Sideman/Subbing Work- with my schedule a bit more open, it’s time to explore some new territory and/or revisit some things I haven’t gotten to do much of… funky fusion stuff especially! If you need a bassist, please hit me up!

  • Accugroove Endorsement- I’m happy to have recently joined the Accugroove family officially! With a lot of the new stuff I’m up to, I can’t always count on in-ears or large PA, so I now have two cabinets for ultimate flexibility and purest tone possible. Give their website a look- https://accugroovellc.com

• Continuing Exploits-

  • Milwaukee Alpenblaser- I’ve been playing with this traditional Bavarian folk group for a bit over a year now, and it’s been a refreshing change. Upright bass with 4 clarinets, a trombone, and a buttonbox? Plus free beer and still earning $$$? Yes please.

  • Pocket Cue IV- I’m happy to be a part of my 3rd Pocket Cue event happening on January 31st at Rallypoint/Steel Tank Brewing Co.. This is a benefit concert for Music6s, which raises money to battle PTSD for Military Vets and Active Duty, Law Enforcement, Firefighters, and Medical First Responders. Over 65 musicians will be participating this year. Bassists and drummers pick the songs that have a special meaning for us, and everyone else jumps in to perform them. It’s an amazing community building event as well as fundraiser.

  • Musicals- I’m still directing shows for Slinger HS and Brookfield Academy. BA’s production of The Little Mermaid opens Friday, February 27 at Hamilton Sussex High School Performing Arts Center. Slinger’s show is TBA, but it opens November 5.

  • Ben Titus Project shows- I always do 1-2 of these a year, either as a solo/duo doing a mixture of my originals and jazzy/funky covers, or as a quartet playing stuff that borders on free jazz sometimes. These are the best ‘musical palette cleansers’ I can think of!

  • Milwaukee School of Languages- with the help of my colleagues and supportive admin, we launched the MSL Hawks Players and put on 2 productions in 7 months! Hairspray the Musical went better than any first musical should ever go, and our first play in well over a decade, All In The Timing, kept that momentum moving while getting students involved in all aspects of the show, from sound and lights to makeup to sets and more! Our next musical will be April 2027, but we’ll have a fall ‘One Night Only’ production as well. Oh yeah, and I still teach grades 6-12 bands and orchestras too.

• In The Rearview-

  • Big Spoon- Yep, after close to 11 years, Big Spoon is on ‘indefinite hiatus’. Lots of factors went into this, from growing families to work schedules, but the short version is that there’s nothing on the horizon for this group for the foreseeable future. It was a huge part of me getting comfortable after moving to Wisconsin in 2013, and I met my wife as a result of it, so I’ll be thankful for that time. Maybe we’ll revisit it at some point, who knows?

I’ll be updating the website to reflect all of these shenanigans, so please stay tuned and I hope to see you out there!

Ben

PS- since I don’t know how to add watermarks yet- special shoutout to Charlie Grenier for taking the new headshot-styled photos! Find him on Facebook for photography needs!

Combo Time!

This is something I’m really hoping to do more often, as I miss it a lot. I played a LOT of jazz early in my career and, despite the recent Superband gigs, I don’t get to do it much anymore as I’ve fallen into the cover band scene since moving to the Midwest. This is from a recent show with some amazing musicians I’ve worked with separately over the years, finally all in one place at the same time! Let me know what you think in the comments!

Jason Goldsmith- Sax

Chris Mell- Drums

Dave Sturino- Keys

Ben Titus- Bass

New video up!

On August 7, 2025, I got the opportunity to sit in with the MKE All Star Superband for the first time in about a year. This is always a great way to keep up my reading chops since as a middle and high school teacher, I don’t get to read complicated stuff for bass as often.

Also- This may well be the first time I’ve played upright with a big band jazz ensemble (albeit electric upright) since college or shortly therafter. Definitely nerve wracking, but since I’ve been playing so much upright with Milwaukee Alpenblaser, I felt confident enough to give it a go. I’m spotting some opportunities for growth as I watch the videos, for better or worse…

I hope you enjoy!

Ben

In case you missed it….

I finally finished the Martinson Build! The full series is up on Youtube- check it out!

This definitely took WAY longer than it was supposed to, but life kinda got in the way a bit. Spoiler alert- I’m also not sure what the next step is for the bass… should I keep it? Should I sell it on to finance more crazy purchases? Let me know!

What a summer it’s been with the rain…

I think this summer has been the absolute worst for rain for as long as I’ve been playing! I’m up to 7 gigs cancelled now due to the weather, mostly with Milwaukee Alpenblaser, but also one of my few solo shows as well. I’m hoping the solo show gets rescheduled for September, but who knows if the weather will cooperate! Most of your favorite groups, at least in the SE Wisconsin area, are suffering from this as well, so make a point to get out and support them!

Here’s my schedule for August, unless rain fouls it up again-

• 8/9/2025, 3:15- Big Spoon @Greendale Village Days, sharing the bill with Brett and the Dandy’s and Almighty Vinyl

• 8/21/2025, 5:30- Ben Titus Project @The Corners of Brookfield Beergarden- featuring Dave Sturino on keys, Chris Mell on Drums, and Jason Goldsmith on Sax

• 8/24/2025, 2:00- Milwaukee Alpenblaser @Von Rothenburg Bierstube

• 8/27/2025, 6:00- Milwaukee Alpenblaser @Kegel’s Inn

Hope to see you out at a show, whether one of mine or another groups’ event!

Ben

I swear, I'm going to use this blog now.....

Well alright, it’s about time I start utilizing this a bit better considering I have been really bad about updating my website with anything besides dates. New content is coming shortly from the vids I’ve finally been able to start editing!

In that vein- here’s a random video from Pocket Cue benefitting Music 6s at the Waukesha County Fair!

Metallica’s ‘My Friend of Misery’ Excerpt

'2 Years In Review' now streaming everywhere!

It’s official- ‘2 Years In Review’ is live wherever you get your music! Below are the direct links to Bandcamp and the top streamers!

New Album Release- '2 Years In Review

The new album is finally here! ‘2 Years In Review’ is live on Bandcamp, and will be live shortly on all of the major streamers (Apple Music, Spotify, Youtube, and more). Bandcamp allowed me to get really detailed in the track descriptions, really telling the story of the album in the way that I couldn’t (at least, not yet) when uploading the album to more traditional publisher services. Please check it out and let me know what you think!