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We don't understand why Benjy Ferree is not a big star. The Three Stars alum plays roosty indie gems and has great stage presence — he's a funny and engaging and a strong performer. He's toured with Spoon and The New Pornographers and is signed to Domino Records (Franz Ferdinand, Arctic Monkeys, etc). And his band is basically a D.C. supergroup, with Laura Harris of The Aquarium, Amy Domingues and Jonah Takagi from Garland of Hours, and Drew Mills from Blood Feather. And the new disc, Leaving the Nest, is great. But he doesn't seem to get much notice.
And Saturday's show at the Black Cat seemed to continue that trend. Ferree headlined with locals The Shirks and The Points opening. While we missed The Shirks, The Points drew a big crowd for their sweaty punch-it-out garage punk. But after their set a lot of the crowd dissipated. That's a shame, because having never seen Ferree before, we were throughly converted by his set.
Photo from Fort Reno this summer by yolamak
The songs are indie Americana, if that's such a thing; acoustic and electric guitar, cello, the occasional harmonica, punchy drumming, and lyrically is similar to folk or bluegrass. But the music (and Ferree) is not mellow or calm. It's urgent, catchy, soulful and just plain good. Ferree is an interesting guy, with a unique sensibility coming out in the instrumentation, lyrics, and his funny stream-of-consciousness stage banter.
Highlights of the show (and the album) included "In the Countryside," "The Desert," "Leaving the Nest," plus the Magnetic Fields cover "Grand Canyon." The set seemed to convert more people too, as the crowd grew larger and closer to the stage for each song. We'll definitely be there next time.
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