BENJY DAVIS PROJECT
''DUST''
SEPTEMBER 4 2007
50:27
1. The Rain/4:19
2. Still Sweet/3:34
3. Sweet Southern Moon/3:57
4. Tell Myself/4:25
5. Green And Blue/4:24
6. I Love You/3:38
7. Good Enough/4:26
8. Same Damn Book/3:56
9. Whose God?/3:50
10. Clowns/4:21
11. When I Go Home/3:50
12. Graves/2:54
13. Over Me/3:19
Brett Bolden /Guitar (Bass)
Maggie Brown /Guest Artist, Vocals
Mic Capdevielle /Percussion
Benjy Davis /Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar (Electric), Vocals
Michael Galasso /Hammond B3, Harmonica, Organ (Hammond), Piano, Vocals, Wurlitzer
Jonathan Lawhun /Banjo, Guitar (Electric)
Anthony Rushing /Mandolin
REVIEW
by William Ruhlmann
Six years and three albums in, the Benjy Davis Project has become a cohesive unit, playing folk-rock arrangements that find the members interacting intuitively. The point of the band is to support Davis' voice and songs, of course, but the group has become a distinct unit in a familiar style. It's easy to cite antecedents, since they date back 40 years to when Bob Dylan and the Band began mixing a singer/songwriter and his acoustic guitar with a group that used a rock rhythm section, keyboards, and other acoustic instruments. Among the recent adherents is the Dave Matthews Band, and the Davis group also has elements of Southern rock, especially the Marshall Tucker Band. But then, there are also echoes of early Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band. Davis usually starts with his voice and guitar, then adds the other instruments, but whether the sound is flavored with a banjo, a violin, a mandolin, or a Hammond B-3 organ, the point is always to support the voice. He sings in a slightly gruff tenor with an elastic sense of rhythm, the better to add conviction and vulnerability to his lyrics, which are personal and straightforward. Inescapably, this Louisiana native confronts the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in such songs as the leadoff track, "The Rain" ("And now you're standing on what just became your FEMA parking lot") and "Graves" ("I'll build the houses, if you dig the graves"). But his main subject is the ups and downs of love, which he explores in immediate, direct ways, whether he is celebrating the intimacy of a relationship ("Good Enough") or lamenting that he hasn't lived up to his hopes ("Prove You Wrong," with a chorus that begins "I'm gonna be a better man than the one I was last night"). He is at his best when singing about what he knows best, the life of a traveling musician, particularly on the album's standout song "Clowns," which manages to be musically joyous even as it disparages aspects of the music business and features a chorus that cheerily declares, "Giving it up!" He is less effective, if typically emotional, in discussing world events in "Whose God?," demonstrating that he doesn't know any more about them than anybody else who gets their news from television. But throughout, he creates an appealing character, and his backup band has become tight enough to add real punch to his songs.
BIOGRAPHY
by William Ruhlmann
Louisiana singer/songwriter Benjy Davis formed the Benjy Davis Project as a folk-rock duo in Baton Rouge in 2001. Originally, the group members were Davis and drummer Mic Capdevielle. Eventually, the outfit expanded into a six-piece with the addition of Anthony Rushing (violin, mandolin, vocals), Jonathan Lawhun (guitar, banjo), Brett Bolden (bass) (later replaced by Matt Rusnak), and Michael Galasso (harmonica, keyboards, vocals). the Benjy Davis Project built up a following while touring nationally as a support act to John Mayer, Better Than Ezra, and the North Mississippi Allstars, as well as playing such prominent local shows as the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. The group self-released its first album, More Than Local (April 20, 2002), and an EP, The Practice Sessions (May 4, 2004). Bogalusa issued their second full-length album, The Angie House, on September 27, 2005, and Real Records stepped in to handle their third, Dust, which appeared on September 18, 2007.
''DUST''
SEPTEMBER 4 2007
50:27
1. The Rain/4:19
2. Still Sweet/3:34
3. Sweet Southern Moon/3:57
4. Tell Myself/4:25
5. Green And Blue/4:24
6. I Love You/3:38
7. Good Enough/4:26
8. Same Damn Book/3:56
9. Whose God?/3:50
10. Clowns/4:21
11. When I Go Home/3:50
12. Graves/2:54
13. Over Me/3:19
Brett Bolden /Guitar (Bass)
Maggie Brown /Guest Artist, Vocals
Mic Capdevielle /Percussion
Benjy Davis /Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar (Electric), Vocals
Michael Galasso /Hammond B3, Harmonica, Organ (Hammond), Piano, Vocals, Wurlitzer
Jonathan Lawhun /Banjo, Guitar (Electric)
Anthony Rushing /Mandolin
REVIEW
by William Ruhlmann
Six years and three albums in, the Benjy Davis Project has become a cohesive unit, playing folk-rock arrangements that find the members interacting intuitively. The point of the band is to support Davis' voice and songs, of course, but the group has become a distinct unit in a familiar style. It's easy to cite antecedents, since they date back 40 years to when Bob Dylan and the Band began mixing a singer/songwriter and his acoustic guitar with a group that used a rock rhythm section, keyboards, and other acoustic instruments. Among the recent adherents is the Dave Matthews Band, and the Davis group also has elements of Southern rock, especially the Marshall Tucker Band. But then, there are also echoes of early Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band. Davis usually starts with his voice and guitar, then adds the other instruments, but whether the sound is flavored with a banjo, a violin, a mandolin, or a Hammond B-3 organ, the point is always to support the voice. He sings in a slightly gruff tenor with an elastic sense of rhythm, the better to add conviction and vulnerability to his lyrics, which are personal and straightforward. Inescapably, this Louisiana native confronts the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in such songs as the leadoff track, "The Rain" ("And now you're standing on what just became your FEMA parking lot") and "Graves" ("I'll build the houses, if you dig the graves"). But his main subject is the ups and downs of love, which he explores in immediate, direct ways, whether he is celebrating the intimacy of a relationship ("Good Enough") or lamenting that he hasn't lived up to his hopes ("Prove You Wrong," with a chorus that begins "I'm gonna be a better man than the one I was last night"). He is at his best when singing about what he knows best, the life of a traveling musician, particularly on the album's standout song "Clowns," which manages to be musically joyous even as it disparages aspects of the music business and features a chorus that cheerily declares, "Giving it up!" He is less effective, if typically emotional, in discussing world events in "Whose God?," demonstrating that he doesn't know any more about them than anybody else who gets their news from television. But throughout, he creates an appealing character, and his backup band has become tight enough to add real punch to his songs.
BIOGRAPHY
by William Ruhlmann
Louisiana singer/songwriter Benjy Davis formed the Benjy Davis Project as a folk-rock duo in Baton Rouge in 2001. Originally, the group members were Davis and drummer Mic Capdevielle. Eventually, the outfit expanded into a six-piece with the addition of Anthony Rushing (violin, mandolin, vocals), Jonathan Lawhun (guitar, banjo), Brett Bolden (bass) (later replaced by Matt Rusnak), and Michael Galasso (harmonica, keyboards, vocals). the Benjy Davis Project built up a following while touring nationally as a support act to John Mayer, Better Than Ezra, and the North Mississippi Allstars, as well as playing such prominent local shows as the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. The group self-released its first album, More Than Local (April 20, 2002), and an EP, The Practice Sessions (May 4, 2004). Bogalusa issued their second full-length album, The Angie House, on September 27, 2005, and Real Records stepped in to handle their third, Dust, which appeared on September 18, 2007.