about
"Canada's Mr Bennett, a Burroughs/Cohen voice for our times...awesome" Robbie (Bandcamp Staff Picks)
"It's rare that you meet someone who is not like anyone you've ever met"
(Humble and Fred Radio)
“Extraordinary, kudos to Bennett” (Toronto Star)
“Wow” (Oor Magazine The Netherlands)
“A voice like treacle thick Americana” (Bristol Evening Post UK)
“If you can play alone you should” (John Hammond Jr.)
"... no one should have a voice like that" (BBC Radio Bristol)
"Mr Bennett...gotta listen...this guy is...uh...wow...how can you describe him...unique...cool...amazing...prophetic...talented...I'm diggin"
(Drew Marshall Joy Radio Toronto)
BIOGRAPHY
Singer, poet, iconoclast and lyrical mutineer, Mr Bennett has spent most of his life wandering and performing. Never a fan of change for the sake of it, he continues to do what he has always done, “ I write things, then I sing it or say it, that’s all I do”. Though a glimpse through his travels and tales reveals living in more than a few countries and working more than “58" jobs at last count. So he has certainly kept himself busy on and off the stage.
Born in Toronto, Bennett spent 18 years in the UK and toured extensively in Europe courtesy of Dutch and Belgian DIY agents. Returning to his homeland in 2011 has brought an all new culture shock to the bard, who cites Leonard Cohen, Flannery O’Connor and Mississippi John Hurt as influences. Bennett says coming home is like “the end of one sentence and the beginning of another”. The play on words is safely presumed intentional as he is clearly a man obsessed and terminally distracted by wordplay and distillation.
Having supported acts like The Fall, Ron Sexsmith, Jonathan Richman and many more, MrB is no stranger to the big stage, and though he usually falls under the critics choice/unsung category, he is undaunted and continues to produce "jaw dropping quality" (Drew Marshall Joy Radio), garnering along the way more than a few loyal fans and comparisons to other lyrical laureates like Bob Dylan, Lou Reed and William S. Burroughs.
He’s played in a lingerie shop and The London Palladium. Camden Town and an Alabama house party for Satanists. When he wasn’t performing he was fuelling busses, test driving cars, selling
cheese, being a butcher, a barista, barman, and a roadie for several rock bands including Bloc Party … “ they were great, Wembley Stadium was a big show but I met Eddie Izzard in the loo and that was better”.
Essential Reviews
“He’s clearly a born storyteller attracted to the metre and syntax of an ancient oral tradition. By which I mean a species of 70’s songwriting that’s two parts the lived-in romanticism of Tom Waits circa ‘Closing Time’, one part obtuse Dylan-esque symbolism, and one part acerbic narrative a la Randy Newman. These tales of the hapless and the absurd are perfectly delivered through his lugubrious, gravely drawl, and when he assures us after abandoning one song that “it’s ok to give up”, these are not the sentiments of a callow slacker but the hard-won wisdom of a seasoned quitter” (Venue Magazine U.K.)
credits
released October 29, 2012
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