Ben Groth (aka “The Child of Eve”)

Bitter Jester Music Festival Judge

Hailing from the tranquility of the midwest, The Child of Eve (Benjamin Jeffrey Groth) has studied his craft immensely and obsessively over the years.

Before taking his pen name, “The Child of Eve”, Ben was a visual artist growing up, until he discovered music to be a form of painting. Now his acrylics are verse. Ben has spent years adoring musicians, exploring venues and writing, navigating foreign land over seas, and would consider himself “relentless” in the pursuit of the great mystery of life.

While he’s been fine-tuning his sound over the last decade, Ben has been more so concerned with fine-tuning his heart; learning to love as his Heavenly Father loves, and receiving a Love that has been, that is, and that always will be.

Listen to him performing his songs “Newish Lament” and “The Beekeeper” live on WLUW here.

Ben has been on a performing sabbatical over the past few years, but enters this new year with anticipation for the release of his first album.

Feeling “dusty and outdated,'“ Ben decided to escape both mentally and physically to the island is Inis Mór, one of three Aran Islands off the coast of Galway, Ireland, a few years ago. He spent three months in near-complete solitude last spring, detaching from the world and rediscovering himself.

Prior to Bitter Jester 2023, he spent a good stint of time in Southern Europe, where he finished walking a pilgrimage from Saint Jean Pied de Port in France, across Spain, to Santiago. The entire journey took 27 days and was 488 miles of walking and soul-refreshing.

He then took a quick detour to the UK to see Muse play at Home Park Stadium in Plymouth, then to Ireland for a pub crawl, then back home to the US in early June, just in time for BJMF. It was a wild and blessed time with his brothers, who accompanied him on the adventure.

“Ridiculous hairy creature torn apart by poetry” - Grendel (John Gardner, 1971)

After the soul-cleanse, Ben’s aspirations with music have been fine tuned and he is in the process of finishing an album of new songs (aiming for the fall of 2023 with a late spring, 2024, release). After that, his plan is to dive back into the music scene head on once again.

A former competitor in the Bitter Jester Music Festival, The Child of Eve holds a special badge honor of being one of BJMF’s solo performers who won their Preliminary Concert, beating half a dozen bands - a particularly challenging and impressive task.