Soft Music For Hard Times

“Soft Music For Hard Times” is my latest full length album and it is very much the album that I have wanted to make for years but wasn’t ready. There exists within me a competitive side with a gnawing compulsion to prove that I am a musician worthy of listener attention. I like this aspect of my personality sometimes, as it drives me to make effort upon effort upon effort. Yet there is something deeper in me that I don’t always nourish; this beautiful acceptance that things always unfold as they should. The music of this album really reflects that quiet power. I’m very grateful for how it turned out.

Another thing about me-when people zig, I zag. All my life I’ve been a zagger, to great benefit and sometimes probable detriment. Those that love me probably find this both amusing and frustrating. We are who we are. And this is the place where “Soft Music For Hard Times” came from.

Sometime around mid 2024, I noticed how LOUDNESS seemed to be winning. Whether in the political spectrum, social media algorithms, advertisements, speaker phones in public, etc…it just seemed like people (and I am part of people) were confusing intensity with volume. In a world full of noise, we need to make even more noise. The baby who doesn’t cry doesn’t get fed.

And make no mistake about it, we are living in hard times. I don’t need to tell you specifics, because I’m certain many things, but societal and personal, probably speedily spring into your mind at this moment. Hard times make hard people. My personal struggles with Focal Dystonia were making me harder than I wanted to be. I tried a lot and will keep trying but I haven’t found a way out.

But what if life isn’t about getting ahead? What if life isn’t about getting out? What if we could feel the intensity without turning up the volume, but rather turning it down and turning our God given abilities to receive up?

This music is about that. I wanted to go against convention and the trends that I noticed-I wanted to zag. And I did.

I hope you listen to this record as a sort of companion for this deep and quiet place that exists within each of us. I made it with care and love and this intention never left the forefront of my mind.

And by all means, make some NOISE when you need to. Cry and get fed if that’s what it takes. Sometimes that is what it takes to be a human being. But don’t forget to nourish and spend time with this other part of your spirit as well. It is a wonderful place. It is vast. It is oceanic. It can be pleasurable and it can be painful. It is you.

with a soft heart for all beings,

Benny