New York singer, songwriter and clawhammer banjo player Benny Bleu has announced his debut collection of self-recorded songs, “When I Am a Fossil” due June 5, with a release show at Bop Shop Records on June 6.
A decade in the making, Bleu, a geologist by trade, examines the roots of traditional song through his own emotive folk tributes to nature, progress and people. Accompanied by a talented group of musicians, he recorded his intimate album direct to analog tape.
The resulting recording features gently rounded edges and is comprised of songs that are playful, eco-forward and run the gamut from country lilts to jug band music, all the while expressing the plaintive call of a high and lonesome sound.
Throughout the collection, Bleu’s banjo strings stitch themselves into a landscape of village farms, lovable mutts and mountain paths often accompanied by the inspired strains of a lone fiddle. His hand-hewn songs carry an organic looseness that speaks to an old-time vernacular reminiscent of Pete Seeger or Ronnie Lane’s Slim Chance.
From the opening title track, a varied, pastoral pulse runs through the collection. “Serenity Song” is cinematic in its rustic detailing and lyricism, while the joyous jug band bent of “Old Dog” and the moody mystery of the album’s centerpiece, “March of the Mollusk,” balance Bleu’s deft frailing with the tasteful melodic rambling of his ensemble.
“I’ve Endured” heeds its inspired call from the tolling hills of Appalachia, and the closing shuffle of the traditional “Penny’s Farm” reaches into the agricultural past of a historical American songbook. “When I Am a Fossil” is a collection of songs that looks backward to move forward. In the same way that Benny Bleu searches the strata of the earth for deeper insight, the songs he has crafted provide the listener with a similar understanding.
