Benjy Davis @ Martyrs’ 07/21

Benjy Davis can write one mean love song. This I already knew. What I found out tonight is that he can also sing the shit out of it too. I walked into Martyrs’ club to the familiar refrain of his amazingly catchy anthem, “I Love You” (yeah I got the time wrong and missed the first five songs, fuck me! er, I mean, forgive me? please, darlin?). He stood bold on stage, surrounded by his band; the gifted bass player, Matt Rusnak, who works the entire length of his instrument in a very solid manner; Jonathan Lawhun, who I can only say is an amazing guitarist many could learn from, (more on that later); and Mic Capdevielle on drums, whose finale was especially, perfectly wonderful and memorably inspired.

This band is tight, there’s no puttering around between songs. Most of them have been playing together for three or four years now and touring quite a lot and it shows. With 16 songs on the lineup, there’s not much time for chit chat and Benjy didn’t provide much. Of course with lyrics as personal and soul-searching as his, he really doesn’t need to say much else. And in fact, talking to him after the show revealed even less. He’s a man of few words. I can totally understand that, not everyone who finds a particular way to express themselves is wanting to just talk and talk and talk to complete strangers!

He gave some short explanations of various songs, basic chronologies of break ups, “Over Me” (which he killed us with! It was so perfectly performed and it’s such a perfectly written, sad song!)  and the explanation of one to whom he “wrote a letter and it kinda rhymed”,..”Sincerely” and the “four hours of when we were happy” that produced “Good Enough.” For someone so young, Benjy Davis is very capable of cutting to the quick about what really stings in relationships. The acoustic set towards the end of the evening was poignant and sharp, just as I hoped it would be when I first heard the record. And he pulled it off without any sense of theatrics. It was just him and a guitar and the honesty of the words he wrote alongside the feeling of the moment for which he wrote them.

Set list
Tell Myself
Louisiana Saturday Night
Still Sweet
The Rain
Green & Blue
I Love You
Day That I Die
When I Go Home
Sweet Southern Moon
Wait
——
(acoustic set, only Benjy)
Slow Wind
Over Me
Sincerely
——
Same Damn Book
Good Enough
Do It With The Lights On

I had a few words with Jon, that amazing guitarist, about his place in the band and in the music. As much as the Benjy Davis Project is about Benjy’s songs and singing, it’s also very much focused on Jon’s guitar work. And on record it’s not quite as apparent as it is live – just how easy it would be to make all this into a very stereotypical Southern Rock, guitar solo-driven mess. The band just feels like it wants to go there sometimes. It teeters on the edge of the Outlaws chasm. Jon reels it in, he knows better. He talked about playing “to the song.” You gotta work the guitar riffs into the rest of what’s there, not carve out space for your big important solo piece. And that’s exactly how I feel a good, seasoned guitarist creates his place in a band and in a particular song. Jon is really a master at weaving really tricky little bits into varying sized spaces here and there. Sometimes they come and go and you’re left scratching your head, saying to yourself “did I just hear that?” Other times you know you just heard an amazing stretch of guitar and you want to applaud but it’s moved on already so seamlessly and there’s no time, Benjy’s singing so beautifully in that timbre-breaking way again. That, to me, is what makes good music. I found myself shaking my head, wondering how they kept outfoxing my expectations, my instincts for doing what I usually do, and for what I expected. And the times when I did get what I wanted when I wanted it, it was very, very good. They’re working on a new album. It’s moving in a little more of a country direction so far, but you never really know until it’s done. So keep an eye and an ear out for it. And in the meantime, enjoy the hell outta this one. I reviewed it here, by the way.

Buy DUST…. Go See the Benjy Davis Project:
Tour Dates
Jul 22 2009 7:30P Live at the Triangle – Veterans Park Saukville, Wisconsin
Jul 23 2009 5:00P Waterfest w/Rusted Root Oshkosh, Wisconsin
Jul 24 2009 11:30P The Hub Cedar Falls, Iowa
Jul 30 2009 10:00P Howlin’ Wolf w/ special guest Tony Lucca New Orleans, Louisiana
Jul 31 2009 11:00P The Varsity Theatre w/ special guest Tony Lucca Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Aug 20 2009 8:00P Rick’s Cafe Starkville, Mississippi
Aug 28 2009 8:00P 4th Street Live Louisville, Kentucky
Sep 4 2009 11:00P Soul Kitchen Mobile, Alabama
Sep 5 2009 8:00P Project 30-90 Festival New Orleans, Louisiana
Sep 26 2009 6:00P Hotel Carolina Isle of Palms, South Carolina
Oct 30 2009 6:00PVoodoo Fest New Orleans, Louisiana