Ben O’Brien Smith

Ben O'Brien Smith

• July Album Project: Day 9 July 10, 2009
  Inspiration struck late yesterday evening and I threw down an acoustic melody that was running through my head. I took a listen this morning and found that I was still digging the idea (occasionally, in moments of great inspiration, it is possible to have a sub-par idea eclipsed by the in-the-moment inspiration itself- this was [...]
• Break from Recording: The Roots in concert July 9, 2009
  My girlfriend was up for a few days to enjoy all that is Vermont including a concert by the Roots as part of the Lake Champlain Quadricentennial Celebration on Sunday evening. The concert was great and the weather held out perfectly. The group, who happens to be the house band for the Late Night Show [...]
• July Album Challenge: Day 3 July 3, 2009
  I’ve been very busy writing and demo recording throughout the past two days. I haven’t found any shortage of inspiration yet (knock on mylar drum head material!). Actually, if anything, I have too many ideas to work on at once. I designed my recording setup in such a way that I can easily bounce from [...]
• The July Album Challenge: Day 1 July 2, 2009
  Happy July! Today being the first day of the month, I decided to allow myself to begin working on my album challenge. I didn’t waste any time getting started. All of the material being written and recorded for this album is fresh, new material. I’ve committed myself to using only musical ideas developed this month (ie: [...]
• A New Musical Project June 30, 2009
  With July just around the corner, a new musical challenge awaits me. I have decided that, in the interest of challenging my musical mind, I will write and record an album in the month of July. My inspiration comes from the RPM Challenge, a music writing challenge in which participants are challenged to write and [...]
• Revision takes to the road :: Grease powered groove June 18, 2009
  Most people have heard of cars that run on vegetable oil. More and more people are converting their vehicles to b e able to run on alternative fuels. For about $1,000 you can purchase a conversion kit online that will add a second tank to your car for vegetable oil while the original contains diesel [...]
• Enough Lettuce to feed a family of four + more funk! June 12, 2009
  I’ve been on total funk overload (TFO, for those you like such things) for the past couple of days. It started with Will Bernard’s group at Nectar’s on Tuesday. That was just the beginning. The following night, Lettuce played a two hour long “evening with” show at Club Metronome. Lettuce was super tight. Adam Deitch laid [...]
• Will Bernard & Friends lay it down at Nectar’s June 10, 2009
  Will Bernard and his band provided an unforgettable night of music on Tuesday at Nectar’s. Along side Bernard were Tim Luntzel, Robert Walter and one of the funkiest New Orleans drummers ever, Stanton Moore. It was clear after the first few songs that this show was not meant to be all about Will Bernard. The group [...]
• Getting to know Luis Perdomo June 9, 2009
  I took in another “Meet the Artist” session on Monday afternoon. This time was Venezuelan pianist Luis Perdomo. Perdomo and his band were fresh off a European tour and were looking forward to playing in Burlington again. Perdomo had visited Burlington on vacation with a friend quite some time ago and had enjoyed the area. For [...]
• Sunday Evening Sunset June 8, 2009
  Couldn’t resist snapping a shot of the beautiful sunset over Lake Champlain and the Adirondack Mountains last night. The colors were spectacular and the clouds actually added to it nicely. I hope to get a few like this downtown in the coming months as well.