Ben Prestage: Swamp Gothic
Ben Prestage: Swamp Gothic Outside Looking Out By M. Alberto Rivera
In the movies, one man bands are almost always a sight gag. Even 
Groundskeeper Willie endured this fate on the Simpsons. But there’s nothing about Ben Prestage which should be taken lightly. A serious artist with a profound respect for his craft, Prestage is an outsider who’s proud of his status. From his choice in material, traditional blues, American and classic country, to how he performs, by himself; and his choice of instruments, cigar box guitars and diddley bo’s, Prestage sets his own course. True to his unique artistic vision and uninterested in what anyone else thinks he should be doing.
Listening to him perform you’d swear there was a full band on stage backing him. His songs rise and fall with dynamics and flair; sudden blasts of percussion and harmonica fill spaces, unexpectedly, creating tension and drama. He performs with a semi-circle of drums and percussion set before him. He commands these drums with his feet, with as much authority as a drummer behind a regular sized kit.
His songs tell stories about inland Florida and the rural south. They are filled with whiskey, weed and ill tempered women. Trouble lurks behind the glare of so much sunlight. That which is given is easily snatched away. Don’t count on Prestage being invited to play Disney anytime soon.
His CD’s, like his live show are created live, without overdubs. Thrust magazine recently caught up with Prestage and had the opportunity to hear his thoughts on his unique vantage point from outside the mainstream.
Your dad’s side of the family is fromMississippi, and you credit him for exposing you to a lot Delta blues. Can you recall what it was about the blues that first resonated with you?
I’ve always liked it because it is real music played by real people, who play the music because they love it. Its the same with old-time Country music and some Jazz.
What other music did you grew up with?
Well, when I was young, I grew up in a rural area, and went to school in Indiantown, FL. All my friends there listened to either Country or Rap, so I was exposed to those. Some of the old Country like Hank Williams, Merle Haggard, Merle Travis etc. stuck with me…Also, when I was 10 yrs. old I was thrown into the music program at Indiantown Middle School (middle school was 5th-8th grade there) I started playing trumpet, and was exposed to Classical music and Jazz. The music teacher there, Paul Destito was a great teacher and taught me to love music, and some important lessons that I still adhere to today. I continued through High School and into College in their music programs on trumpet, flugelhorn, french horn, and guitar, but I always played the music I loved on the side…
How do you think being raised in the rural South has affected your perspective as an artist?
I think if I grew up in a city or suburban area, there would be a lot more stuff to do in my free-time than sit and pick guitar. I think any good artist is effected by his or her surroundings and my surroundings were rural and Southern growing up. I couldn’t write a song about the stuff Dr Dre writes about… it would be ridiculous. there’s a lot of rappers out there that have loads of talent, and it would be silly for me to act like I am a rapper, or something that I ain’t. I also never had the desire to be a pop-icon, so that kept me from writing these sappy, love songs that cater to 12 year old girls,that Nashville keeps pumping out. I write and play what I feel, and that’s all I can do.
You talk about your grandmother having been a travelling Vaudville musician. How much of an influence was she on you as a performer?
My Great-Grandmother was a touring Vaudeville musician. I didn’t get to meet her. My grandmother painted a picture of her and gave me a post card that her band used as business card that has a picture of the band. They were called “The Girls’ Orchestra” and were very unique, because they were an all-female band in an era when the music business was heavily dominated by males. They also performed under the name “The Navaho Girls” and they all dressed in mock Native American garments while they performed. She has effected my imagination heavily, although I have never met her. 
You first added drums while busking out onBeale street. How long did it take you to become so fluid on the drums? Was it initially awkward?
I fooled around with the foot-drums when I was younger. I had been influenced by the music of one-man-band Dr. Isaiah Ross and casually played the kick drum and hi-hat while paying drums, but never in a live setting until Memphis.
In 2002 I played at a Blues Festival in Fort Lauderdale, where I heard another one-man-band. He invited me to move to Memphis and tour with him. I backed him up on guitar, and diddley bow and played my own solo set between breaks and as an opening act. His drum-kit was always in the way when I performed solo, so I started using it, since I had fooled with the one-man-band idea before. Eventually he did some touring solo and left me in Memphis, so I busked on Beale Street. That is where I got the hang of playing the foot-drums. There were days that I would spend over 8 hours busking , and when you’re doing that you get better quick! At first, all I could play on the drums was “BOOM, TAP, BOOM, TAP” over and over. Most one-man-bands never get out of that groove. In fact, that groove works so well with so many songs if you’re a decent guitar player, because you can fill in the nuances of shuffle rhythms and boogies with the guitar, and fool the listeners ear a little… but eventually, I got tired of hearing that beat all the time, and when I moved back to Florida in 2004, I rearranged my drum-kit a little which forced me to think differently on the drums. I also started becoming more comfortable behind a kit and started thinking like a drummer and a guitarist separately, instead of thinking like a one-man-band. I can now play shuffles, boogies, rhumbas, second-line street beats, bo-diddley beats etc. with my feet. My foot drums now consist of a Kick, a double snare (for rolls, accents, train beats and stuff) a tom and a hi-hat. I invented a way to play a ride cymbal on top of all that, but it needs a little more engineering before its ready to be put on stage.
Having done the one man band successfully for so long, do you ever wish or could you ever see yourself playing with a full band ?
I had some bands in the past, but no, I have no desire to play in a band. It’s a great challenge to perform quality music as one-man-band. If I played with a band I’d be stuck doing guitar solos all night, and the world already has enough guitar solos. I am more song-oriented, groove-oriented, and feel-oriented than I would be with a band. I want to take the one-man-band medium to a level well beyond that of a gimmick. I have reached a level of musicianship that frees my mind from concentrating so hard on doing 4 things at once. This allows me to have a freedom in the music that I couldn’t get if my music was dictated in any way by another drummer or bassist. Most good bands feed off each other musically, but as a one-man-band you’re naked; its just your imagination, mind, and body that creates everything. As an artist I think it is more rewarding for your art to be from yourself. I wonder how Salvdor Dali’ would have felt if there were 4 other guys painting on his canvas while he worked?!
Have you ever felt confined artistically by being a one man band?
When I first started. Not anymore. I feel like I can get the music in my head out all by lonesome.
In your live shows you goof on contemporary commercial (radio friendly) country music. You work some Hank Sr. and other classic country songs into your set. What do you consider to be good country music and are there any current country acts you feel are worth listening to?
Well first let me say… you know what opinions are like… I think any music that makes you feel something is good music. If it makes you feel like dancing its good. If it makes you feel like crying its good. If it makes you nauseous you’re probably listening to commercial radio. Turn it off. There are some great bands out there today, and most of them seem to be independent. I always knock Nashville, but some of the best musicians in the world are there… some of the best bands too! They’re not the one’s you see on CMT. See, country music is music from the country. What the records companies are doing is selling you Pop music with steel guitars and phony southern drawls and calling it Country. I mean just look at these so-called “country-boys.” They get their hair done in a salon and wear makeup! Where I grew up that wouldn’t fly. Country music and Blues is like good Moonshine or Cuban Cigars: 12 year old girls might not like it, but people that have a more mature palette it can’t get enough. A couple of younger “Country and Blues” bands that I like are “The Howling Brothers” out of Nashville and “Sad Daddy” out of Arkansas. My all-time favorite living country singer is “Blind Buddy Moody” from the Tampa Bay area. He’s an old-Florida-Cracker and the real-deal when it comes to Country music! www.myspace.com/blindbuddymoody
There’s a literary feel to a lot of your lyrics reminiscent of Flannery O’Conner and other southern writers. Is this a conscious thing, or something that winds it’s way into your songs subconsciously?
There’s very little that is conscious about my songwriting. Perhaps my songs would better if there was! I usually will be thinking about something or talking about something and and say “hey, that would make a good song…” or I’ll be picking guitar and a melody or groove will come out of nowhere, and I’ll say, “that would sound good with this drumbeat.” Then if the music feels good to me it will usually spark some imagery with me and that image will be the basis for the lyrics. The song will then just take on a life of its own. On my latest album “One Crow Murder” I started writing a song about drinking that ended up being a social commentary about one perspective of the state of the prison system in modern America.
How did you start playing Cigar box guitars and the diddley bo?
My next-door neighbor, when I lived in Memphis, made cigar box guitars and diddley-bows and I bought a couple from him. His name is John Lowe and he has a music/book store in Memphis named Xanadu Music. He is also a one-man-band, named Johnny Lowebow.
Do you have a favorite song to perform?
It varies greatly depending on my mood.
How relevant do you think the blues are today? Do you think classic traditional blues still resonate and have impact with audiences today?
I think good music has been and always will be relevant, whether it is Blues, Country, or whatever. I’ve seen Blues artists win over County music audiences, Rock audiences, even Heavy-Metal and Hip-Hop crowds. I think Blues may be a little foreign to most people nowadays, because it doesn’t get the airplay that other styles do. However when its done up right, it can hold its own against any style.
What is it you hope people take away from a Ben Prestage Show?
A handful of Ben Prestage Cds!!!! Seriously though, as a musician, and a performer it is my job to entertain people. Different people are entertained by different things:
music that makes them dance, art that is contemplative, songs that make them laugh, or watching adept technical skill. People also like to see something that they’ve never seen before. I try to provide a show that encompasses all of these things so people from different walks of life can come together to the same show and forget their cares and worries for a little while. Music is therapy for the daily grind, and I hope people can walk away from my show feeling better than when they came in…
For more information on Ben Prestage, visit his official website at: www.benprestagemusic.com
This article originally appeared in www.thrustmagazine.org
