I have not seen Ben Reddell perform all that often, but he is a very familiar face in the Los Angeles music scene. He is one of the movers and shakers in the Americana-Country scene as he curates the Grand Ole Echo series each year at The Echo. The 2025 series should be starting up on the last Sunday of March or the first Sunday of April. I tangentially did a Q&A related to the Grand Ole Echo last year. If interested, you can read my interview with Charlie Overbey over on US Rocker Music. He was playing Grand Ole Echo to celebrate his In Good Company record release. I unfortunately wasn't able to make the record release party as I was up in Big Bear - that sounds like an Americana thing to do, right?
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| Ben Reddell at Club Tee Gee |
I wasn't necessarily planning on going out on the first Sunday of 2025, but then I noticed that Reddell was doing a set at Club Tee Gee for a Back in the Garage night. Off I went.
It was humor filled set. Dare I say part stand up comedy? He introduced an older song called "Winter Fugue" by telling the crowd that it was written when he was 27, "which was last year and that the song has been moving up the charts ever since!"
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| Ben Reddell at Club Tee Gee |
At the end of "Tumbleweed," he attempted to go Jimi Hendrix by playing his guitar with his teeth. With an apology to the crowd he said afterwards when he mentioned Jimi Hendrix and playing with one's teeth, "I never learned how to do that. I've got an older cousin, he's an aficionado. He can do it. Sorry, that was half-ass." He did a joking attempt again at the end of his song "Hey," but ended up using his fingers to mimic the sound that he imaged his teeth would make. Towards the end of the set, he gave up on playing with his teeth, but he did play his guitar with it against the back of his head. The whole night got howls of laugher from the crowd.
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| Ben Reddell at Club Tee Gee |
Not to be left out from being mentioned, he was supported on stage by Hamilton Boyce.
What's the song to spotlight here? "Tumbleweed." The song can be found on his 2021 EP La Baby! Per the PR Release for the EP, he has the following to say about the song, "This is one of my oldest songs. I wrote this in my sad Hollywood apartment in 2007. At that time, I was a drunk and a waiter at the Arclight Cinema, but writing this song made me feel like I was more than those things. It’s inclusion on this record means a lot to me, it’s my banner of L.A."
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| Hamilton Boyce at Club Tee Gee |
I grew up in the Antelope Valley so I guess I have a love-hate relationship with tumbleweeds. Tumbleweeds are those dried up plants that occasionally roll across the road at just the right moment and get stuck under your car for a few miles. Once my parents moved out of the Antelope Valley, I never really returned. I've driven through the Antelope Valley a couple times while heading up north. I think I even stopped in Lancaster once to fill up my gas tank. During the pandemic, I did get as far as Vasquez Rocks. The fun story there is that as I was heading back to my car after my hike, I ended up on the wrong path that took me on one long walk. I wasn't lost, because it is all desert and you can clearly see around you, but I have to say I was a touch irritated that I took the wrong path. I did finally make it to the Antelope Valley in 2024 when I attended the funeral of a school friend's father.
Let's just say I don't understand why so many musicians seem to live around Joshua Tree -- other then, I suppose, the cost of living. Of course, the saying is that people seem to always return back to the Antelope Valley. We'll see.
Partial Setlist: Love Her & You Need Her, Two Snakes, Billy, Winter Fugue, Tumbleweed, Hey.
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