Ben Bruce Takes A Bite Out Of Seattle
July 27, 2014 / Plastic
You know what doesn’t suck? Whole festivals about food, people gathered in happiness, and music that sounds better live. There was a whole-lotta just that kinda not-suckiness happening when Ben Bruce played Bite of Seattle a couple weeks ago.
Despite a very small crowd, Ben Bruce, and his guitar man RL Heyer took full advantage of the Fisher Greene stage and blasted out their Americana Rock sounding something like a Jesse Winchester / Waylon Jennings love child.
Ben Bruce can turn a phrase as a songwriter, and his thick heavy melodies stick to the ribs like comfort food for the mind. His band in lends credence to my bitch that classic rock should remain classic, and folks should make room in their brainwaves (and on the airwaves) for new musicians who are doing it. Well, if you’re looking for a link between the classic and the new, your man is Ben Bruce.
Ben’s music isn’t seeking to be revelatory, it follows the classic rock convention of lead & rhythm guitars, bass, and drums, but it does expand well upon ideas about rock and roll that work, long story short: it sure is fun to listen to. If you’ve got a road trip left in you this summer, his eponymous album should be your soundtrack. You’ll be rocking behind the wheel to the air guitar inspiring riffs of guitar god RL Heyer (who played drums, and as Ben puts it “everything else” on the album) which are perfect accompaniment to Ben’s own country rhythm, and his rich, sonorous, voice.
Though the horn section that spices up the album on Ben’s gospel inspired numbers was noticeably absent, Ben’s voice came across clear and stong, giving RL the freedom to feel the funk that transforms him from man to monster behind a guitar.
