Benjy Ferree - Leaving the Nest

Genre rock Publisher Domino Recording Company External Links Official Benjy Ferree Website Official Domino Recording Company Website

I really blew it the first time around with Benjy Ferree's Leaving the Nest. I listened to this CD quickly, while getting dressed to go to work. It was cold, and the brown wood hugging my glass windows let too much ice-cold air seep into my room. I was thinking about waiting in the snow for the bus I was about to take, not the music I was hearing.

A week or so later, on it's second listen, the short ten-song album made more sense to me. It was pure, scratchy and smooth all at once. Benjy's unassuming, but still inviting vocal style reminded me somewhat of Jack White, but his songwriting sounded like a liberated Robbie Robertson. Violins, acoustic guitars, pianos and percussion carried his songs into a sort of purgatory containing the roaming souls of alt-rock, indie rock and bluegrass.

The songs are creative and blurry - blurry in that they ride along the border of playfulness and seriousness without being distracting. This guy is one unique artist, and I mean that because I'm still not sure if I really like everything on the album yet, but the more I listen the more I seem to get it.