Benjamin Tod From Lost Dog Street Band

Expect in any music group on Facebook and y'all'll likely see the proper name Lost Dog Street Band. With six albums under their belt, including Benjamin's previous solo album, these aren't newcomers to the music earth. They've been busking, crisscrossing the country and playing to whoever will heed for years. In the by couple of years their proper name (and music) is mentioned more than and more than. With raw emotion and lyrics (sometimes brutally and then) and harmonies that will gut punch y'all, they've built quite a post-obit. I've had the privilege of seeing them twice this year and each experience has been dissimilar. Regardless of the venue, the reaction to the music is ofttimes the same. Fans singing forth, sometimes you see the emotion overtake them and you realize how much the lyrics and the feeling is affecting them and possibly reminding them of their own experiences. It'southward truly something to meet. The following is an interview with Benjamin Tod and Ashley Mae, two of the three members of Lost Dog Street Band.

AH: I've establish when I ask people how they get-go heard almost Lost Dog Street Band, many of them reference Gems on VHS and admittedly that was my get-go real introduction to you as well. Can you lot tell me how that collaboration came about? Is that a collaboration you plan on continuing to do for the foreseeable time to come?

Benjamin: U.s. and Anthony Simpkins briefly lived at a punk business firm chosen 'the twin towers' in Nashville together in 2012. It was a rowdy shit prove and I was really bad on drugs and booze. The first time I met Anthony I threatened to stab him because he wouldn't finish playing that, "alive like you were dying" pop land vocal on his banjo. We actually filmed our beginning two videos ("Tom Ames prayer" & "Coming Down") at that firm. I got kicked out of the firm eventually later on violently attacking someone and getting arrested. We always stayed in touch and developed a real friendship despite my insanity. I programme to always work with Anthony. He is an accented genius and the best in the business organisation correct at present, damnit.

AH: I read in your bio that often to exorcise your demons you finish up writing songs strung out on drugs and drunk. Practise yous remember your best work has come from those times? Or are you a ameliorate songwriter in your sober and clean periods?

Benjamin: I wrote at least a quarter of the songs throughout my career on heroin and/or meth. It's sad to say only some of those songs merely never would have happened the same fashion unless I was using them. I'yard not in whatsoever way encouraging anyone to practice them. I hope my music is a direct testimony of why non to start. Booze never helped me write, just the aftermath of what I did on booze definitely did. Getting sober was scary because of that. I know a lot of artists struggle with the fright of getting sober and their writing going down the tubes. For me it has given me more than clarity and focus. I believe my writing today is amend than ever.

What's the positives to traveling and making a living with your significant other? Any negatives?

Benjamin: Hhhhmmm…. that'south a tough one. Having her effectually is everything to me. Even if I was touring solo at that place'southward no way I could practise it without her along. Information technology definitely affects our human relationship negatively sometimes. We accept to work hard to keep our romantic relationship separate from our business and bandmate relationship. Sometimes feelings in our matrimony become injure over things in the band. It's worth information technology over all and I wouldn't have it whatsoever other way.

Ashley: Working together professionally definitely strengthens our relationship in a lot of ways — nosotros face problems as a team and have each other to bounce creative ideas around. Being in a business organization/musical human relationship with your spouse admittedly has its own host of unique struggles. When tensions are high nosotros have to step back, accept a deep breath and remember that we're in this together.

When yous write a song similar "Using Once more", is it hard for you to admit to yourself and others that you've fallen dorsum into old habits? What's your motivation in difficult times like those?

Benjamin: Definitely. I haven't used a needle in about two years, so I don't accept a bad conscious about hard drugs for the nearly part. I think dorsum to the outset bear witness you (Melissa Payne) came to and someone yelling, "I thought you quit drinking!?" as I took a shot of tequila on stage. I've never tried to tell people about quitting drinking only information technology does come out and sometimes I just take to have a fucking drink. Having that expectation has certainly helped me stay sober. There accept been a couple times I was losing it and most got some dope on the route. I would always retrieve about how much people depend on my strength and in the stop walk back to the venue.

AH:  I know you guys mentioned homesteading at your concert in OKC, volition your touring schedule change once you add animals to your homestead? How do you lot balance the homestead, touring and making new music?

Benjamin: That is a question we are still trying to observe the answer to. We plan on finding a total- time resident for the holding that will live in a individual section. Time will tell.

AH:  Tell me nearly your upcoming solo anthology, Benjamin. How is this different than other albums that you've put out equally LDSB?

Benjamin: My solo albums are no frills. I consider myself strictly a songwriter in every sense. I dear the craft, the process, the insanity. Benjamin Tod is my truest nature as a author. Lost Dog incorporates a lot of narratives and a bigger sound which I as well love doing.

AH:  I love that you guys bring other artists on bout that are talented, simply maybe your fans haven't heard of earlier. Are there whatsoever artists in this genre or a unlike ane that you lot'd like to eventually collaborate with?

Benjamin: Joseph Huber, Sarah Shook, Vincent Neil Emerson, Jason Dea West, Lori McKenna ….. of ones nosotros haven't played with.

AH:  Ashley, I know yous are an artist and your gallery is impressive (your prints are my favorite). Are you lot still actively working on your fine art? Or has that taken a backseat since you lot've been then busy touring?

Ashley: When we're touring I have very little time to piece of work on my art. Nevertheless, while touring I'1000 actively incubating ideas and usually have some of my brightest artistic moments when I'm driving the passenger vehicle. When I go home, I hide in my studio for hours and unpack those ideas and sketches. It's very cathartic. Information technology'southward taken me a long time to practice so, just I've learned to rest touring and my own personal creative do. I'm hoping to get a website upwardly and running very soon to share what I've been working on.

AH:  What led to the determination to add Jeff Loops to the group?

Benjamin: We were getting on bigger stages and needed more sound and rhythmic consistency. I did a 1-homo ring setup for years with a tambourine and kick drum. I f-cking hated it. Information technology looked unprofessional and sounded terrible. Information technology was the final remnant of my Street busking past and was keen to get rid of information technology. Jeff is an incredible friend and bassist. I don't know what we'd do without him. Jeff Loops is also a phenomenal songwriter and vocalist. He'd never tell you that, though.

AH: What's something that people would be surprised to know nigh each of y'all?

Benjamin: I'm a big Green Bay Packers fan.

Ashley: I beloved learning about the paranormal, aliens and series killers….all the weird shit that give y'all nightmares….and I'thou a Broncos fan.

AH: Who or what has been some of the biggest influences on your music?

Benjamin: Obviously Guy Clark, Steve Earle, and Townes Van Zandt. I grew upwardly listening to them earlier it was absurd. My friend Christian Tengelitsch'south male parent (phase name)Rick West was a songwriter and worked in and out of their circumvolve in his time so from around the historic period of 14 it was commonplace in my life. Information technology was strange getting older and watching information technology go this hipster litmus test. Another huge influence that is significantly lesser known is Jim Ringer. He's definitely in my top 10 greatest songwriters of all time.

AH:  Where do y'all see yourselves in the next couple of years? Any big goals or plans to share with the world?

Benjamin: Nil special. Never wanted to exist famous. Only want to brand a living doing this and inspire people to fight their own demons. I encounter a lot of artists merely push and push and lose themselves in this fucking manufacture game. They can have it. I will be in Kentucky living a simple life and touring when I have to. It'south non virtually the charts, the trends, or how big a show y'all tin can play in the terminate. It'southward well-nigh moving people spiritually.

AH:  The following are questions from the fans in the Unofficial Lost Dog Street Ring Fan Group.

All-time favorite song (you only get 1) non artist, not genre, not albums, just one favorite song.

Benjamin: "Mama Yous've Been on my Listen" Bob Dylan Only from the 1964 Halloween recording.
Ashley: My best favorite vocal right now is George Jones's "Colour of the Dejection".

AH: Ben, how has your playing style developed into what it is now? How has the overall aesthetic of the ring and your music progressed through all of the projects yous've been involved with?

Benjamin: Playing on the streets, hands down. Information technology tends to exist loud and I had to projection and larn to use my voice in foreign ways to exist heard. Living on the streets in general shaped my view of the world and who I am. Desperation taught me things that are hard to explain. It doesn't pay to be apprehensive when your downwards.

AH: Ben, volition you ever go back to playing the banjo alive?

Benjamin:  Playing the banjo live is hard because of sound bug. Banjo'southward are also harder to tune and stay in melody. More than than probable, no. I was never very skillful at playing banjo and I rarely pick it up anymore.

AH:  Ashley, where do you get those clothes and those amazing boots?

Ashley:  I go my clothes and boots at the many vintage stores, antique malls and second-hand stores we cease at on the road.

AH: Ben, what is your opinion on anarchy?

Benjamin: I grew upward on the far left. I considered myself an Anarcho-primitivist in my teens. I was apart of protests and nutrient not bombs and the whole leftist civilization in Nashville. I can yet use the arguments to my advantage when I need to or when playing devil'southward abet. I was obsessed with sociology, political science and philosophy in my younger years. I am admittedly not an Anarchist nor do I place with the far left anymore.

AH: What are yous near proud of? Either personally or music related?

Benjamin: I'm nigh proud that my music helps people as individuals. The things I write are reflections of my own hard times and for people to actually relate to them is amazing. It makes me feel less alone in the universe and gives me hope in humanity. I've been doing this for over a decade and at that place was a long time that my art really made me experience more alien than connected to others. The fact that I can write a song about a very personal feeling that other people have felt and just them hearing the song puts some clarity to their darkness very rewarding.

Find out more than nearly Lost Dog Street Band, here: https://world wide web.lostdogstreetband.com

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Source: https://americanahighways.org/2019/09/25/interview-benjamin-tod-and-ashley-mae-of-lost-dog-street-band/

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