Journeyman comes full circle with an album of resonant covers that have been uniquely adapted throughout his career, tracing all the way back to his teenage days busking in Nashville.
Benjamin Tod has been around the block to say the very least. As a prolific writer, performer, and recorder, Tod has devoted his life to Country and Americana music through his long solo and band career, most notably the Lost Dog Street Band. His first commercial release can be dated back to 2007/8, but he was busking on the streets of Nashville long before that as a teenager, which is where this latest album began. Country is Dead is a covers album and a collection that Tod has acquired across his time in the industry. These are the songs that have stayed with him since he first heard and covered them. It is a look at what Tod is a fan of, but also songs that strike a chord with him as a person, a musician, and a travelling nomad. These songs have transcended the artists that wrote them and have massively influenced his own music. On this album, Tod said that he wanted the songs to be “done differently, or done better”, and through brand new arrangements, we get Tod’s twist on the songs and ultimately a body of work that feels unique to him.
Sonically, this album has all the hallmarks of the Nashville country sound. It is very clean, and even though there are big band arrangements and many instruments, it feels very crisp and smooth when it hits you. A very large-venue reverb sound is apparent, and this good use of it gives the whole thing a very spacious sound, meaning every song feels very easy listening. If this type of music is your thing, then he also has a very familiar voice. A voice that makes you feel like you are in safe hands, one that lets you know straight away that you are in the home of country. It is also very smooth with a great 50’s twang, one that holds notes a little longer at the end of lines, to give them blues. We can definitely hear Hank Williams and George Jones in his voice. The chord progressions move around with a familiar ‘standard’ feeling, which keeps engagement and familiarity from the start. Throughout the album, he alternates between full band songs and more intimate, stripped-back performances, which leave us with a very holistic view of what he is all about.
Tod has an edge to him; he definitely likes the outlaws of the genre. Covers of Hank Williams, George Jones and Merle Haggard tell us this. Songs by artists that put the miles in and very much lived life on the edge. Because of this, the songs are believable, as we know that Tod has paid the cost himself and lived the life of a travelling busker. Benjamin Tod covering the likes of these artists works for that very reason. While you might look at the artist list and see some very familiar names, the track selection is not a ‘best of ‘, or tracks chosen primarily to pull in as many listeners as possible. They have been dug from a little deeper and have been chosen because of how they resonate with Tod himself, and in that, we believe the words that are coming through him.
