Ben Gage: “Two Singing Songs” (2023) CD Review

Ben Gage is a singer and songwriter from Akron, Ohio. His debut full-length album, Two Singing Songs, features all original material. The music here is folk, with some blues elements. The songs are sometimes beautiful and always engaging. In addition to providing lead vocals, Ben Gage plays guitar, harmonica and percussion on these tracks. Joining him are Dan Socha on guitar, bass, percussion and vocals; and Tuck Mindrum on percussion. Tuck Mindrum also mixed the album.

The album’s first track, “Company,” begins with some sweet, gentle work on guitar. The early line in this song that grabbed me is “Your head, it’s underwater, and you chose right now to drink.” That’s a great line, and it made me pay closer attention to the lyrical content. “It’s hard to keep your chin up when the dreams they aren’t around.” This track also features some really nice work on harmonica, which has a timeless sound. On the song’s main line “We don’t have a lot to do and I could use the company,” there are backing vocals joining him, perhaps the very company we need. Toward the end of this song, Ben Gage sings, “Right now it may be storming, but the birds, they’ll sing again.” It’s another good line. Birds and angels (basically, things with wings) are recurring images on this album, and “Company” is followed by one titled “Blue Bird.” This song has a livelier vibe, with a wonderful rhythm, one you can’t help but enjoy. This song takes a rather playful look at some mistakes. “Me and the sun, we aren’t talking anymore/I said enough to declare a state of war/She never shines in my direction/Like before.” This song also provides the album’s title in its lyrics: “I had a blue bird on a string/You can’t tie down a beautiful wild thing/And she broke free one day and she flew off with that sun/Now there’s two singing songs/About the evil that I’ve done.”

At first, it is the guitar part of “Tie Me Down” that I love. But this song also contains a fantastic, soulful vocal performance. In this one, Ben Gage welcomes past trouble back into his life. Hey, sometimes that is easier. “Come and break my heart again/Getting too close to letting you in.” This track also features nice touches on electric guitar. There is something strangely beautiful about this song, and even soothing, and perhaps that is part of the point. Sometimes we can be soothed by the easier choice, at least for a time. This is one of my favorite tracks. It is followed by “Dorothy,” a playful and delightful bluesy number that features some wonderful work on guitar. “She’s roosting at home, I’m working in town/She’s kicking up dirt, and I sweep it up under the rug.” There is even some whistling in the second half. Then “Messenger Bird” is about reaching out, trying to get in touch with a past love. “Messenger bird, I’m calling on you/Won’t you take this letter to someone I knew.” This song is just vocals and acoustic guitar, giving it a more intimate and lonesome vibe. But by the end, it seems that letter, that message, will never get through and he knows it, as he sings: “I gave you a job that you just can’t do/You’d have to learn to fly a whole lot higher/‘Cause she’s the prettiest angel in that heavenly choir.” “Broken Hearts” is another song to mention angels: “Pave my way with broken hearts tonight/Take this angel and clip its dirty wings/Time says that there’s no reason to fly from here.”

Ben Gage returns to the blues with “Cold Finger Blues,” a track that features some cool work on harmonica and guitar, and some great raw percussion. It’s a song about a relationship, when one person is in it and the other is suddenly clearly out of it. Ah, if only he’d known it before buying that ring. This song makes interesting use of pauses, and is another of the album’s highlights. That’s followed by “Other Side,” which has a bit of a John Prine vibe as it begins. This one touches on promises we make to do better, with Ben singing “Oh, I can change, I can change/I get on the other side where I can change.” Of course, there’s the question of what exactly is the other side. It can be the other side of an illness, meaning that time when you’re feeling better. A time one might feel like making improvements, correcting mistakes, or at least intending to. It can be the afterlife, if there is such a thing. And in these divisive times, it can be the lair of those with opposing viewpoints.

As I’m getting older, I find it’s sometimes easy to lose steam, and also more difficult to get going. Why do things take so much longer? I don’t know, but in “Losing Steam,” Ben Gage sings “Like a kettle on the counter, or a hole inside my heart/I’m losing steam/A sink of dirty dishes/I used up all my wishes/I’m losing steam.” Losing steam and losing time, so who wants to spend even a moment doing routine things like cleaning dishes? Anyway, I love this song. It contains some really nice guitar work. Ben Gage follows a song in which he sings that he’s used up all his wishes with a song titled “Wish.” The first lines are delivered as sort of spoken word, lines about being a musician in this strange new online world of social media and streaming services. And then he sings of the things he wishes for: “Wish I had all the answers/Wish I had lots of cars/Wish I had a big house.” The song, however, is about realizing what he has, and we can all relate to that. Or, at least most of us can. Though honestly I can’t help but wish I had a big house. After all, I need a place to put all my records and CDs, a place to actually keep them organized.

CD Track List

1. Company
2. Blue Bird
3. Tie Me Down
4. Dorothy
5. Messenger Bird
6. Broken Hearts
7. Cold Finger Blues
8. Other Side
9. Losing Steam
10. Wish

Two Singing Songs is scheduled to be released on November 3, 2023.