I met Benjamin Brackett in his garage in the summer of 2006. I had started a band and needed some players to back me up. Those players happened to have been in a project with Ben, and since they already had a rehearsal space, I decided to start hacking out some tunes with them there. He was an interesting young man. He is still an interesting young man. He was a little quiet. That didn’t last long.
As my band started to take shape, it seemed Ben’s talent and drive began to grow exponentially. I can’t remember the first time I heard “You’ve Got The Market Corneredâ€, but I remember not really believing it. His voice was soft and shy and I didn’t quite understand how someone so young could capture the feeling of loneliness and isolation using only a few simple metaphors. I heard that single and I was hooked.
Ben recorded an album all by himself. Sure, people record solo albums all the time, but not like this one. I remember him taking off one day for Seattle to record for a week at Studio Litho. He would go into record while his mother hung out in the studios kitchen and made bowls out of old LP’s. He comes home a week later with a beard down to his knees and a handful of burned CD’s with the words “Big Baby Jesus†(later to be renamed Hear Ye Hear Ye) scrawled on them. He gave me a copy, I took it home, threw on some headphones, and listened. What Ben created dwarfed what I had heard on that first single. These were wonderfully lush acoustic arrangements coupled with mellow organs and ethereal delayed guitars. He even taught himself how to play drums for the record. Benjamin has such an insightful lyricism and paints these beautifully sad and tragic portraits of characters that embody loss yet still retain a quiet and touching solitude. Benjamin had done all of this and he was only 17. To this day it still blows my mind.
I consider Ben a good friend and he should be your good friend too. And maybe that’s why it’s taken me 6 months to write this. The problem I find is that words seem to fail when trying to describe such a talent with a preternatural instinct for witty, intelligent lyrics, haunting melodies, and an all around gift for the craft of music. I’m honored to be part of Ben’s family and 6 months worth of writing can never convey that. I feel lucky to share my passion and love for the art of music with someone that has so quickly become an inspiration. Listen to his record and I think you’ll see what I mean. Then give yourself 6 months to try putting it into words.
- Sim Castro of The Albert Square
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