When I was recording THE PRESENT PLAYS, I wanted to focus on my role as the songwriter. This was Amy Sullivan's first record, too. I play mostly rhythm guitar and mandolin on this recording. You can learn about the other great musicians on my album by visiting my website.
Currently, I am performing with The Courtney Janes. We play a lot of stuff from THE PRESENT PLAYS, as well as Dennis' new record.
Influences
Dad Jon A. Lem H. John Hartford Lyle Lovett Norman Blake Robin & Linda Williams Tim O'Brien
Jerry Garcia David Grisman Doc Watson Gillian Welch Alison Krauss Nickel Creek Norah Jones Bob Marley Bob Dylan
The Beatles The Beach Boys Paul Simon The Indigo Girls Suzanne Vega Sting Emmylou Harris Willie Nelson The Filo Glee and Mandolin Society and the rest of my parents' record collection!
It's weird: You start writing songs and you're like, "To Heck with all those songwriting rules and all that music theory! I'm going to write songs MY way!" So you write for awhile, but then you accidentally start to LEARN the rules and theory and you're all like, "Wow. If I use this stuff, I can write better songs faster than I ever did before! I'll do THIS for awhile!" But THEN! when you LEAST EXPECT IT! you start to go, "Waitaminute. What happened to the ME in all this? I've become a total SELL-OUT! (But that last one sure is catchy...)"
The next thing that happens is you start to really listen to music. You THOUGHT you listened before, but that was before you had a sense for what was going on. A lot of people pick Dylan or The Dead. Some go in for Johnny Cash or Willie Nelson. Me, I picked bluegrass. (What can I say? It was love.) So I sorta did that thing for awhile as best I could to try and get a little more GROUNDED. I haven't really given up on that, but at a certain point I discovered who I really am, musically, and I'm a little more suburban than Bill Monroe. So now, I'm kinda back where I started in the first place, trying to do things my way.
Click to Purchase "The Present Plays" from CD Baby
The new songs sound great Ben. I also love it when you and Dennis play with David Fletcher. You read each other so well as musicians and shift parts and dynamics expertly to make for a great listening experience. ( I also loved watching your face when David hacked through a song or two with one of his strings slightly out of pitch ! It was clearly torturous for you, and the sadist in me loved watching you squirm !) Your new album is going to be great. Have fun working on it this Winter !
Hey Ben, great to meet you and share the stage last Thursday at the Sweetwater Station. You're songs and guitar playing still have a smile on my face. Would love to play together again...any time. Gentry
Check it out. Even if you don't land a performing spot this year, you should still consider making it up there to check it out. It's right up your alley, trust me.
