Benson Burner
Raconteurs-man Brendan Benson on his foray back into solo artistry, his adopted home of Nashville and why it might not be the end of the worlad for the Jack White supergroup...
Roisin Dwyer, 02 Nov 2012
“Oisin from The Lost Brothers says ‘Hello!’” is Hot Press’ opening line to sometime Raconteur Brendan Benson.
“Oh, hey, that’s great! He’s a lovely guy. I loved working with them, they’re great people really talented and very mellow. And very polite!” he laughs.
Benson oversaw the Irish outfit’s last album. It may have seemed in recent years his production duties almost eclipsed his solo work as he ratcheted up a slew of credits including Young Hines, The Greenhornes and The Nice Device. With latest release What Kind Of World he reminds us that, versatile as he is, Benson is primarily a songwriter – and a talented one at that.
This long-player sees him once again join forces with Brad Pemberton, best known for his role as Ryan Adams’ skinsman.
“When I first moved to Nashville, I met Brad’s wife and she was really cool,” remembers Benson. “She introduced me to her husband who was playing with Ryan Adams. At the time I was looking for a band. He wasn’t available. Then, a couple of years later, he became available and I snatched him up! We had been touring together quite a lot before making this record. We already had a nice rapport.”
The LP is out on Brendan’s own Readymade Records, the origins of which can be traced to the mid-’90s.
“The first record I ever made came out on Virgin and my friend did all the artwork and for some reason I said put Readymade Records on there,” he explains. “I think it was a sort of fantasy I had about having a label. I think where I came from, listening to punk and hardcore music I noticed these small cool labels and so I wanted my record to be like that. I didn’t want my first record to be on Virgin, this huge corporate thing.”
Readymade now counts The Lost Brothers, Young Hines and Cory Chisel And The Wandering Sons amongst its acts and will soon include Eric Burdon.
“I invited Eric on stage at SXSW and we jammed together!” exclaims Benson. “Then he came to Nashville and we recorded some songs that will be coming out on Readymade Records. I’m putting out Eric Burdon’s record! At SXSW we did ‘When I Was Young’ and then we did ‘Inside Looking Out’. It was amazing."
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