The Round Table

Although we’re still early into 2010, I’d be lying if I didn’t say that I’ve been anxiously awaiting the latest release Lost Souls Like Us from Benjy Davis Project. With anticipation like that, I guess it’s fairly easy to be disappointed with the final outcome. Don’t get me wrong, Lost Souls Like Us isn’t a bad album, per se, it’s just not overall representative of what I was expecting from BDP after the well-rounded, emotionally stellar Dust. And it certainly doesn’t live up to the high bar set by lead single “Stay With Me” a mandolin-driven song about love with room for interpretation, whether in the moment or reflection, with intensely personal lyrics written by Benjy Davis himself.

The album opens with “Mississippi,” a pretty safe ode to the wandering road-life as only a young musician can paint. It’s followed up by the light-hearted “Get High” that the college kids are sure to eat up. While these tracks aren’t necessarily throwaways, they’re also not particularly memorable, which seems to be the issue with the album until the midway point where things start to come to life.

Aside from “Stay With Me,” which is one of our favorite songs hands down, “Slow Wind” is beautifully reflective where Davis shines both vocally as well as lyrically. “Check Your Pockets” brings some good ol’ sunny southern rock courtesy of the guys’ Louisiana roots, which is sure to have you singing along to.

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This past weekend, a few friends and I piled in a jeep and trekked to  North Carolina for a brief escape from the daily grind. We received a tip that one of my favorite indie artists, Tony Lucca, was performing at The Evening Muse in downtown Charlotte on July 4th with another group called The Benjy Davis Project so we figured we catch the show.

Since we’re always in search of good, new music, we arrived early to watch The Benjy Davis Project who opened for Tony. We were very impressed as we were treated  to a flawless set, which began with Benjy Davis performing a few acoustic numbers solo. He was later joined by his backing band including Mic Capdevielle (drums), Matt Rusnak (bass guitar), and Jonathan Lawhun (electric guitar).

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