Ripple Video Premiere: Watch singer-songwriter Ben Musser's new video for the propulsive, pissed-off blues-rocker "Falling by the Wayside" co-produced with Grammy-winning legend Scott Mathews (The Beach Boys, Jack Nitzsche, Mick Jagger)

“I’m sounding the alarm,” says Musser, “that the life and privileges enjoyed by Americans is ‘Falling by the Wayside’ because of apathy. Some of these influencers have reach, but won’t engage in politics. I want them to do something besides just drawing attention to themselves for the sake of drawing attention to themselves.”

 

New album Sentimental Fever (out May 1 via Blackbird Record Label) takes on classic pop and soul through a lens of folk-rock, Americana, blues and even ‘50s doo wop. The album finds Musser taking stock of the sentimental things in his life: being a good husband, fatherhood, loves lost, loves found, and everything in between. It tackles the insecurities of raising a family while keeping an eye on how he has grown from the past. It's more than the first album to be released under his own name (fka Benyaro); it's also the singular work of a one-man band, with Musser writing every song and playing nearly every instrument. During this era of digital automation, Sentimental Fever is a classic album for the modern age.

 

Sentimental Fever was co-produced with Grammy-winning legend Scott Mathews, known for his work with icons like The Beach Boys and Jack Nitzsche, to Mick Jagger, Van Morrison and Roy Orbison. Mathews contributed drums and spinet on two tracks, and background vocals to Sentimental Fever. Musser recorded every other instrument (drums, keys, guitar, bass, accordion, etc…) during a demanding two-week session. Sentimental Fever was mastered by Jeff Lipton (Bob Mould, Andrew Bird, Madison Cunningham, Alejandro Escovedo, Stephen Malkmus).

 

Musser has previously worked with Danny Kadar (The Avett Brothers, My Morning Jacket, Band of Horses, The Noisettes, Grizzly Bear), played in a band with Aaron Lee Tasjan, toured with The Infamous Stringdusters, Anders Osborne, Nicki Bluhm, played multiple shows with Shovels and Rope, and Malcolm Holcombe, shared bills with Langhorne Slim, Gary Clark, Jr., Buddy Guy, The Wood Brothers, Devon Allman Brotherhood, Brett Dennen, Blind Pilot, Jessica Lea Mayfield, Samantha Crain, Robert Randolph & the Family Band, Susto, Cedric Burnside, Marc Broussard, Jeff the Brotherhood, Eric Lindell, Dangermuffin, Glen David Andrews and many more. He has played SXSW, Treefort Music Fest, Sundance Film Fest, and has been covered at Relix, HuffPost, No Depression, Glide, Twangville, Americana UK and more.

 

He turns a new page with Sentimental Fever. Its 11 tracks are rooted in sharp songcraft, lushly-layered organic arrangements, and the sweat equity of a self-sufficient songwriter who has never defined his abilities and ambitions so clearly before.

LINKS:

Website - Instagram - Facebook - YouTube - Spotify - Apple

 

Tour dates:

Feb 9: Teton Village, WY - Young & Musser @ The Mangy Moose @ 3:30 PM

Aug. 14: Telluride, CO - Music on the Green Concert Series

 

*Ben Musser - "Falling by the Wayside" single art by Marc Horowitz.