Benjamin Dehart profile picture

Benjamin Dehart

Florida Folk Music's Own Cracker Tenor

About Me

************************************************************ As a kid Benjamin Dehart played autoharp and sang Bluegrass favorites with his two younger brothers at local events and family gatherings. Today, his soaring, lyrical voice is getting to be one of the most sought-after in the Florida Folk Music scene. ************************************************************ * Born in Ocala but raised in the small farming community of Oxford, Fla., Benjamin grew up around horses and cattle. Although he later moved on to the big city, he never forgot his roots and uses them as inspiration for his music today. ************************************************************ ** "I developed my love of cowboy songs and the cowboy way of life as a teenager while working for local cattlemen and farmers," he said. "Later, I began to participate in historical reenactments, and it was my love of history that focused my musical direction." ************************************************************ ** It was at a frontier rendezvous encampment not too long ago that folks started taking notice of the burly, red-haired tenor who, by this time, had put aside the autoharp in favor of the acoustic guitar. ************************************************************ ** Right away it seemed his music was in demand."People started asking me if I had a CD of my music, and I didn’t," he said. "But it was touching to have this outpouring from folks who wanted to take my music home with them." ************************************************************ ** So he made up his mind then and there that he would record a CD and have it ready for the following year’s reenacting season. His first CD, "Warrior Bard," released in 2002, included a mixture of original tunes, operatic pieces and old Irish and Scottish traditional ballads. His second CD, “Taking Another Crack At It,” was released in 2004, and blends cracker cowboy history with the wistfulness of a modern-day mountain man trapped by the urban monster. ************************************************************ ** His third and most recent effort, “Another Side of Me,” presents yet another aspect of this singer-songwriter’s multi-faceted personality. This album focuses more on Seminole and Native American history, and has a somewhat darker tone than his previous efforts, but will no doubt prove to be very popular among an ever-growing fan base. ************************************************************ ** “This album is very close to my heart. It tells the story of a people who were terribly wronged, of a people hated in war and mistrusted in peace, and of sacrifices made for freedom,” Benjamin said. ************************************************************ ** The initial response to the new album has been overwhelming, he said.“I am so thrilled that folks have embraced my work in the manner that they have. I truly love my Florida heritage & history, and I feel honored to be able to express this love through my music.” ************************************************************ ** Benjamin has been questioned on many occasions about his vocal training -- of which there has been none. He will always respond to the question by saying, "Most of the knowledge you need to get by in life can be had just by paying attention." ************************************************************ **

Background from Google search result

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 11/15/2006
Band Website: thecrackertenor.com
Band Members: From the river front concert in Palatka, Florida...a tribute to Will McLeanBen Roasts The Bear ! OneBear that is !!Video No. 1 from "Rally For The Rivers" event featuring "America The Beautiful"Video No. 2 from "Rally For The Rivers" event featuring "Turn Back TIme" by James HawkinsVideo No. 3 from "Rally For The Rivers" event featuring the song "Cow Hunter Dreams" written by Benjamin DehartVideo No. 4 from "Rally For The Rivers" event featuring the song "Cracker Cowman" written by Frank Thomas
Influences: A practice session featuring the SwampSeeker Productions;Wild Florida Video Safaris theme song; "Wild Florida"A practice session featuring the song;"Goodbye Summer" written by Alaska folk artist Paul Roseland.Song video featuring "Running Out Of Time"Song video featuring brand new song; "Eagle John"Song video featuring "Open Country"Song video featuring "All I Ever Really Wanted To Do Was Be A Cowboy"-----------------------------------------And yet another great video montage by my buddy One Bear. I would have never thought of the song Amazing Grace and alligator trapping working together, but on so many levels...they do ! One Bear Rocks The Swamp !! My good friend Gus Onebear put together this great "slideshow montage" / "music video" above. He used some of my recordings and pix from my website.www.thecrackertenor.com.I think it is pretty cool. He spent a ton of time working on this.Expect to see more collaborations between Gus and myself in the future. We are in the initial phases of a music video of one of my songs.Stay tuned !The video above is my gator wrestling buddy from the Everglades, Gus "One Bear" Bautista. The video features my song,"I Wished I Was And Alligator Wrestler"(c). Gus recorded me as I was playing around the campfire one night in the Glades.More Gus Onebear; swimming with wild gators !
Type of Label: None

My Blog

Author-Historian-Speaker,Fredric M. Hitt; The finest in Florida historical fiction

Author-Historian-SpeakerFredric M. Hitt"The finest in Florida historical fiction" www.marehootie.com Stayed tuned for a brand new song by Benjamin,inspired by these wonderful novels.The title of the...
Posted by Benjamin Dehart on Sat, 07 Jun 2008 08:30:00 PST

"The Freedom Found In Nature" as described by Maurice Thompson

"The other extreme of savage life is the wild joy of the chase&the whir  of the arrow&the hard, successful shot&the struggle with danger by field and flood&then the camp fire, the deep, sweet sle...
Posted by Benjamin Dehart on Thu, 24 Apr 2008 06:01:00 PST

The words of Bobby Hicks on the family that is Florida folk music.

Jimmy Carrick of St Augustine, put together a wonderful two CD collection of recordings by our friend and fellow Florida folk musician,the late Bobby Hicks.   The collection was released for...
Posted by Benjamin Dehart on Thu, 10 Apr 2008 04:59:00 PST

It's Rendezvous Time ! If I don't get some whiskey soon I'm gonna DIE !!

Ron-Day-Vooooooooooo !    If I don't get some whiskey soon I'm gonna DIE !!   Well next week Bonnie Boo & I will be making our annual pilgrimage to Homeland Florida for ...
Posted by Benjamin Dehart on Fri, 12 Jan 2007 06:36:00 PST

Hats & Boots

Hats & Boots   by Benjamin Dehart     A musician fella approached me, he knew I was a guitar plucker too. Said, "I'm playing in a country band now, I need a hat and cowboy boots" I ...
Posted by Benjamin Dehart on Thu, 29 Nov 2007 04:20:00 PST

The Traveling Troubadours In The News

As written by columnist Jack Stephenson ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I have been writting an outdoor column in the Crescent City newspaper since 1989 and thought you m...
Posted by Benjamin Dehart on Fri, 07 Sep 2007 03:15:00 PST

Just Google your name. You never know what you will find!

I tell ya what. It is true. Every now and then I will Google my name or my moniker The Cracker Tenor. Sometimes it is amazing the things you will find posted that you never knew was out there in cybe...
Posted by Benjamin Dehart on Sun, 12 Aug 2007 08:53:00 PST

Yee HAW ! Grey Cow Cavalry makes it west !

Yee HAW !  Grey Cow Cavalry makes it west !   My tune the Grey Cow Cavalry was just played on KSJD Radio in Mancos/Cortez ,Colorado. Thanks to Western Belle Barb Richhart for spinning my tun...
Posted by Benjamin Dehart on Sun, 18 Mar 2007 12:55:00 PST

My musical endeavors are blossoming !

Yes-sir-ee-bob ! CD's sales are doing well, and I keep picking up more and more gigs. Not to bad for a dumb-ass old cracker boy from Oxford Florida ! If things keep going so well, I should be abl...
Posted by Benjamin Dehart on Tue, 13 Feb 2007 04:07:00 PST

One of these days...

One of these days I'm going to pull a Bobby Hicks ! I'm just going to lay it all out for everyone to see. My opinions on certain issues. Things that really put a burr under my saddle blanket. But not ...
Posted by Benjamin Dehart on Fri, 09 Feb 2007 05:45:00 PST