The new single from singer-songwriter Ben Musser is a heartfelt tribute to those who lost their lives in the tragic events of 11th September 2001. It’s also dedicated to the first responders, whose unimaginable courage was inspiring – these were people who ran into the flames in the hope of rescuing others. Ultimately, Downtown Tree is a song of hope and resilience in the face of the greatest of obstacles, symbolised by the ‘Survivor Tree’. This magical tree survived, despite being burned and crushed; it was nursed and nurtured back to health and now stands resolutely at the centre of World Trade Centre Memorial Plaza.
Musser was inspired by Scott Musser’s documentary, The Trees, about the design and construction of the Plaza. Footage from the film was used to make the video for Downtown Tree, adding to the moving nature of this musical tribute.
Musically, the song is gently engaging and sweetly melodic; Musser’s intimate voice is buoyed by swaying rhythms and swells of backing vocals.
Musser told AUK about the song: “The Downtown Tree refers to the 9/11 Survivor Tree, a Callery Pear tree that was living at the World Trade Center Plaza on September 11, 2001. The collapse of the Twin Towers decimated everything around them, including this tree. It was stripped down to a burnt trunk with broken branches, but was successfully rehabilitated at a Bronx Nursery over the course of years. I met a documentary filmmaker who was making a film about the story of the design of the World Trade Center Memorial Plaza and this tree. He did not have music for the scene in which the tree, after years of rehabilitation, was taken from its place of recovery, back down to its former home at Ground Zero. I wrote this song for the scene in the film, and in the music video we created, we used a broad range of scenes and footage from the documentary, The Trees, directed by Scott Elliott.
I lost one of my best friends on 9/11/01; Davis Grier “Deeg” Sezna, Jr., and we had just graduated in May. It was his second week at his first job out of college. Deeg helped me get my first job in the music industry as an intern at Columbia Records in New York City, and needless to say, the opportunity opened many doors for me in the music world. His story, his generosity and his tragic death (as well as the deaths of many others) provide the melancholy foundation of my song. The emotions were very real for me as I wrote from the vantage point of the tree who had been through such a tragic event. The tree, in many ways, represents what we, as humans, must go through in order to recover from enormous loss. The final lines of the song move me: ‘toast to old friends, cheers to the missing winds,’ acknowledging pain and loss but looking towards the future with hope.”
Musser’s new album, Sentimental Fever, will be released on 1st May 2026 via Blackbird Record Label. The appropriately-named collection finds Musser in a reflective mood, taking stock of the sentimental things in his life, from marriage and fatherhood to love and loss. Co-produced with GRAMMY-winning Scott Mathews, who has worked with the likes of Mick Jagger, Van Morrison, The Beach Boys and Roy Orbison, the album represents classic songwriting, well-crafted, sensitively written material that blends folk-rock, Americana, blues and classic pop. It’s also the first album to be released under Musser’s own name, having formerly released work under the moniker Benyaro, perhaps reflecting the personal, thoughtful nature of the songs. Check it out.
