Heartfelt
and humorous, life re-examined
Acoustic and mystic: the songs of Benjammin
Imagine James Taylor crossed with Steve Martin and Deepak Chopra. That
heartfelt/funny/mystical hybrid would sound a lot like Benjammin.
The award-winning
singer/songcrafter is an ecospiritual troubadour and sly jester. A charismatic
performer and sensitive balladeer. Impressive instrumentalist and tender love
song singer.
In short, he’s hard to
pigeonhole. But that hasn’t stopped the praise from fans such as acclaimed
singer/songwriter Billy Jonas, who called Benjammin’s latest CD “amazing…a
fine, well-crafted, inspired and inspiring work of art.”
“I occasionally touch
on serious issues,” Benjammin said, “but above all I love to entertain. My
shows have plenty of humor, love songs and upbeat material, as well as a touch
of the mystical. I like my audiences to go home with open hearts and big
smiles.”
Song contest judges have
also been smiling: Benjammin won First Place in the OSCA Songwriting Contest,
and was a finalist in two Flatrock Music Festival competitions.
Originally a classical
guitarist – he gave world premiere performances at two national guitar
symposiums – the silken-voiced baritone evolved into using his advanced fingerstyle
technique on steel strings. But he's no traditionalist, as his work with altered
tunings and partial capos demonstrates. His songwriting is also eclectic, with
flavors ranging from folk, Broadway and pop to New Age, Middle Eastern and
jazz.
Benjammin, who lives in Asheville, NC, lists singer/songwriters David Wilcox, Peter Mayer, David LaMotte and
Tom Prasada-Rao as major influences. His critically acclaimed debut album, The Beauty Within – which he
recorded as Benjamin Bernstein -- features meditative synthesizer instrumentals.
His website is www.BJBmusic.com.
A Benjammin performance
is now a rare event, since he now devotes most of his time and energy to his
work as a professional astrologer. See his astrology website,
It's All Good
Astrology, for more information.