Rock Me, Ben Folds

Ben Folds almost became a symphony player. “I was a percussionist,” says Folds from his home in North Carolina. “I played in the youth symphony growing up and all that. I thought that would be my job.”

Instead, Folds played drums for frat party bands, acted a little, dropped out of college and then, finally, focused on the piano and became an iconoclastic pop star.

And now, in a delicious bit of kismet, he’s finally made it as a symphony player — in fact, he’s become a favorite on the guest artist circuit among symphony orchestras from Boston to Australia.

“People were bringing this idea up with me for a couple years before I finally quit saying no,” says Folds.

To do it right, Folds decided to invest in the best arrangements he could get, so he hired Paul Buckmaster, the Englishman who put the choir behind the Stones’ “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” and made David Bowie’s “Space Oddity” sound so cool.

Now Folds has been working with symphonies for the past five years, performing “Landed,” “Not the Same” and “The Luckiest,” among other faves. It’s that last one that has Spokane Symphony veteran Chris Cook the most excited. “These are going to be big arrangements,” says Cook, who has played the trumpet for the Symphony since 1981. “There will be more than 60 of us up on the stage.” Cook has been a big Ben Folds fan ever since one of his students at Gonzaga put “The Luckiest” on a school project for him.

Folds says the rocker-meets-symphony scenario can be a tad frosty: “I’ve got every ounce of respect for people who dedicate themselves to any kind of music,” says Folds. “But there is a party line, and sometimes some [players] are disgusted that they have to be there — like it’s wet T-shirt night at the symphony, just to pay the bills.

“But,” Folds continues, “a lot of them are turned around by the audience enthusiasm — it makes a pretty big dent, makes things more exciting for them, and by the end I get a little more respect.”

And the Symphony, hopefully, gets some new converts. Music Director Eckart Preu has picked some modern works to fill up the first half of the show; Folds will headline the second half.

“We hope the majority who come to hear Ben Folds are pleasantly surprised and then come back to hear more from us,” says Cook.

Expect something a little different Sunday — OK, a lot different. A stool might go airborne, or a rendition of “Rock This Bitch” could erupt, but it will all feel right — and sound great. Folds promises he has worked super hard to make it work.

“Rock bands usually use a symphony as ornamental, not fundamental,” says Folds. “I asked arrangers to do things they wouldn’t normally do — to do shit that would normally get them fired. I want to have a lot of bad ideas, but then find a few that are working.

“So I’ve got 25 to 30 [arrangements] to choose from,” Folds continues, “and some just don’t work. In theory, they should have worked, but they didn’t fit the song or I couldn’t make them work. But about 18 of them work really well.”

Ben Folds joins the Spokane Symphony Orchestra at 7:30 pm, Sunday, Oct. 18, at the Martin Woldson Theater at the Fox, 1001 W. Sprague Ave. Tickets: $35-$40. Call 624-1200.