Jason Bennett brings home the “Cows” on his new full length album with something to talk about at every turn, and a surprise or two here and there. Having said that, I’m just getting to know this artist and like what I’m hearing so far, with Cows sure to lead me back to his first album. This is an artist with borders most folk singer/songwriters wouldn’t cross, as he dares to blend country and Americana with a holy sort of blues. One thing for sure, this is roots music with a slight contemporary attitude and fresh sound for what it’s worth.
URL: https://jasonbennettmusic.com/
You get a warm and fuzzy feeling the second “3rd Of My Life” starts playing, and you’re swept away by the vibrant arrangement and the way he carries on about the 3rd of his life and all the little gripes that comes with it. I was reminded of Bob Dylan meets Jimmy Buffet if that describes Bennett himself. I’m also glad to say the rest of the disc is full of the same positive standards. “Mystic Love” is a dreamy love song with a sense of humor which can also be found throughout Cows. The piano makes this track all it can be.
The next song is a cover, and it’s not the average choice for such an artist, but it turns out “Never Let You Go” is a compliment to the Steelheart original, sung by someone you just don’t try and emulate in the first place. The skills of Jason Bennett to take something and make it his own are evidenced in this rendition, so it’s worth anyone’s time to hear it. “Wino Rich’ tells it like it is, while the new frontier awaits, and “Seen A Lot Of Cows” is where the disc peaks with the title’s subject matter.
“Day Of Joy” starts to take things into the second half of the disc, and it’s a soft instrumental that goes whispering by and you might want to just play it again, as it’s one of the sleeper cuts on offer. And it only gets better as it’s followed by “Escape” where Jason Bennett gets back into narrative mode. It’s all the same with “Life” also doing more of the deeper work to be heard on Cows, and album that comes straight from the heart and soul and leaves you wanting more as it boils along so nicely.
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“Rainbow” is one of my favorites, but it took a few plays before that was apparent, so be sure and give the disc enough spins before you judge it altogether. You might like some songs more than others, but you’ll like more of it than not. “Midlife Crisis’ is pretty self-explanatory, and one of the most countrified songs, with a very familiar ring to it, like hits from the 70s. But there’s more, with “Libertarian Blues” tackling the current culture with the usual complaints, and the disc ends with “Escape” (Reprise) taking it out in epilog fashion with Jason Bennett doing what he does best.
Chadwick Easton