Ben Kammin - seventunes&threesongs (2001)

[This is a slightly edited repost of a post from my original Sybil Records blog. The links there were down and I have not posted anything there in quite some time. I've been wanting to reshare this album for a while now so a recent message from a reader asking if the album is still available was the nudge I needed to finally put it back up. I have updated all the links there if you want to check it out. It's a bit messy but I hope to clean it up soon.]

I've been wanting to post this album for a long while but because I had nothing to do with this project I needed to get the OK from the artist. Ben Kammin is a fingerstyle guitarist in the style of Michael Hedges and Leo Kottke. I first ran into Ben many years ago when he was playing at a Barnes & Noble bookstore. I ran into him a few more times before striking up a conversation with him. There was a lot of common ground between us as musical influences go and I really wanted to work with him in some way. It took a few years but I finally got him into my basement studio to do some demos. These are not them but you can find those here.

Tracklist

01 Jesu, Joy Of Man's Desiring -J.S. Bach (Arr. David Qualey)
02 Amazing Grace -Traditional (Arr. Randy Scruggs)
03 Solitude -Ben Kammin (Chorus By William Blake)
04 The Happy Couple -Michael Hedges
05 Too Much Saturn -Francis Dunnery (Arr. Ben Kammin)
06 Dreamsketcher -Billy Mclaughlin
07 Ojo -Leo Kottke
08 Let Them In -Anonymous (Melody based On an arr. By David Wilcox)
09 Song For Robbie -Peppino D'agostino
10 First To Go -Leo Kottke

Reality Notes

What we have here is Ben's first CD. Recorded and released in 2001 it predates our demo sessions. This CD is sold out and long out of print with no plans at this time to reissue. I wanted to share this for many reasons but mainly to give more people access to this album. More often than not I have had to listen to Ben tell inquiring fans about the unavailability of this CD. So with Ben's approval I am putting this up here for all to download and enjoy.

If I could have one complaint about this album it's that Ben does not sing enough. As a guitar player first I'm sure that's where he wanted the focus to be but he has such a nice voice as well.

For more information about Ben go to his website. He doesn't perform very often these days but he is far from inactive.

Benjamin Kammin - 6 Rabbits-2 Dogs-1 Cat-1 Cow

YouTube month continues. 

I'm cheating a little on this one. I've known Ben since long before he had a YouTube channel but I like to promote him whenever I can. I first encountered Ben playing at a Barnes and Nobel bookstore and was instantly a fan. I ran across him a few more times and struck up a conversation. Ben is an amazing fingerstyle guitarist with one of those soft and smokey singing voices that seems to wrap around you before penetrating your soul.

I had the pleasure of recording some demos for Ben when my studio was brand new and barely up to specs for such delicate music but the results were fine for demos. I've included some of those here. Simply put, anything with a vocal was recorded by me.

01 Road to Mallow
02 Sad, Sad, Sad
03 Breaking of the Shells [Billy McLaughlin]
04 Little Beaver [Leo Kottke]
05 Autumn
05 Little Beaver [Leo Kottke]
06 Long December
07 November [Pino Forastiere]
08 Ojo [Leo Kottke]
09 South by Winterwest [Billy McLaughlin]
10 September
11 Sunflower River Blues [John Fahey]
12 Dali
13 Mona Ray [Leo Kottke]
14 Sleepy Time [Alex de Grassi]
15 God Said No

Reality Notes

Ben does not perform very often these days but he is far from idle. He gives guitar lessons online for all levels. He was part of a research team that transcribed every available recording by Leo Kottke. He did release an album around the time I first met him. Sadly that album is out of print. He did give me permission to post it on my Sybil Records blog and site. That link is now dead but I will re-up it eventually, maybe here as well.

The cover is an homage to Ben's first CD which featured a sketch of a tree on the cover. The little caricature in the bottom left corner was drawn by me during one of his performances back in the day.

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