Événement

Jon Dee Graham w/ Ben de la Cour

Jon Dee Graham is a guitarist and songwriter from Austin, Texas. A former member of the True Believers with Alejandro Escovedo, Graham is the only musician ever to be inducted into the Austin Music Hall of Fame three times.

Jon Dee Graham is most well known for his solo work, including the critically acclaimed records "Escape from Monster Island", "Hooray For The Moon", and "Full". He is also well known for his tenure in The Skunks, Austin's very first punk band, and roots-rock pioneers The True Believers with Alejandro Escovedo. Jon Dee has also played guitar with acts such as John Doe (X, The Knitters), Exene Cervenka (X), Michelle Shocked, Alejandro Escovedo, Kelly Willis, and The Gourds and has had his songs covered by many artists, including Patty Smythe, Patty Griffin and James McMurtry.

Ben de la Cour has lived a different kind of life. After growing up in Brooklyn, he set out to see the world as an amateur boxer, bartender, janitor and agricultural worker in Havana, London, Los Angeles and New Orleans before settling in Nashville. Influenced as much by giants such as Townes Van Zandt and Warren Zevon as by Nick Cave and The Gun Club, Ben de la Cour has managed to meld all of these influences into a uniquely modern, haunting and sometimes darkly humorous sound that is all his own.

Ben de la Cours songs are brimming with urgent authenticity. There is thematic hardness and vulnerability throughout, but what distinguishes de la Cours songs from lesser guitar-and-anguished-vocals hacks is the raw humanity of his delivery and the potency of his way with words.
(No Depression)

In 2016 Ben de la Cour won the prestigious Kerrville New Folk Competition and released Midnight in Havana, eleven tightly crafted songs of what he refers to as Americanoir. Tales of substance abuse, murder and mental illness sit in perfect juxtaposition with occasional moments of playful lightheartedness and the ever-present glimmer of hope. However, upon closer inspection, darkness almost always winsan unlikely hero, but one that suits de la Cour.

Gruff but well-read, quiet but dancing circles on one heel in the kitchen, Ben de la Cour is the enigma, the lone picker, the troubadour, the drifter, the one man band. He is a revitalizing force, providing the songwriting world with the honesty and emotion, the wisdom and history that is usually lost on singers trying to write the next beer can-blue jean hit.
(American Music Project)