Ben Whitley, born in 2004, was at Renshaw Street's OUTPOST in December 2022 and New Sounds Generation's Billy Vitch went along to see this singer/songwriter. "So on to the show and tonight’s first act, which is the fantastic Ben Whitley who is an acoustic guitar and harmonica playing singer/songwriting Liverpool native, Ben is only 18 years old and I have got to say, at that age, it defiantly takes a lot of guts to open a show! Ben starts off his set with his song 'I Guess' and I’m instantly reminded of Bob Dylan and Jake Bugg, the song starts with him playing harmonics on the intro and is a fast passed folk-infused song that gives me a protest song vibe! It kinda reminds me of 'Crucify Your Mind', a song by Rodriguez, AKA 'Searching The Sugerman' from his iconic album 'Cold Fact', although Ben’s song is a faster tempo the similarities are definitely there and I’m super impressed. Ben treats us to several more of his songs from his recently released album 'Maybe It's A Way of Life'. He is definitely one to watch and I honestly can see this young man doing big things in the very near future."
His debut folk album was 'Maybe It's a Way of Life' which was recorded in one night over on Spotify in September 2022 and Sam Millne from Mersey Music reviewed it. "A full acoustic album as your debut release is a bold move but one thing it can do is showcase your raw songwriting skills. That’s exactly what’s happened in the case of Ben Whitley, whose debut album 'Maybe It’s A Way Of Life' has proved a success with listeners. By synthesising his harmonica, acoustic guitar and the low tones of his vocals, the 19-year-old has created an LP that makes for easy listening. While the Bob Dylan influence is obvious, Whitley has combined his love of country, folk and rock ‘n’ roll by taking inspiration from various artists, old and new". He said: "People like Pete Seeger, Johnny Cash and more recently Sierra Ferrell have a certain rhythm that engages the listener. I try to go for that sort of stuff with my playing." On why he wanted to put the album out, Ben said: "I figured I’d been playing the open mics for a while and had a bit of a catalogue of tunes that were pretty much only getting played at these open mics, so I thought I might as well put them out to save them collecting dust in my head. I had a short period before recording this album when I wasn’t doing anything new and I put it down to getting comfortable with what I already know. This was why putting the album out allowed me to leave all that in the past. I still play a lot of the tunes on the album and I enjoy them; it’s just that I needed to carry on with something new." Amongst the other highlights from the album are 'I Can’t Ramble' and 'Perranporth Coast'. Back in January 2021, 'I Can’t Ramble' was the first song that Ben ever wrote. It’s a cheeky song telling the tale of a man’s misfortunes in life. Meanwhile, 'Perranporth Coast' is a reflection of memories of the Cornish coast. Across the album, the artist manages to make his stories sound authentic through vivid descriptions from the perspective of himself and his characters. It makes for engaging listening throughout.
Ben's second album 'Back To Where I'm From' was released in March 2023 followed by 'Live at the Belvedere' recorded with Ollie Wilson and celebrated his 2nd album release with a live in store performance at Ditto Coffee Liverpool.
see also :- http://www.thefootballvoice.com/2024/08/pool-of-sound-daisy-gill.html
No comments:
Post a Comment