For about 10 years, Nashville native Ben Rector has been putting out refreshing, upbeat music with a near religious adherence to pure musicality and a clean acoustic palette.
Rector has performed in Oxford many times over past tours, and tonight it’s happening again at The Lyric.
photo courtesy http://www.benrectormusic.com/
“The venue is great. I really love the venue (in Oxford),” Rector said. “I really do love the town as well… Oxford is a relatively new market for me, but I went to college in an SEC school, and the town just feels familiar to me.”
Things have certainly changed since Rector’s last visit to The Lyric, the biggest change of which is the release of his latest album “Brand New.” The project has seen some major success on an international scale, even earning some airtime in multiple major markets across the U.S.
However, for Rector, the album represents much more than its impressive sales performance.
“I just wanted to make something that felt like a first record,” Rector said. “At this point I had done (music) for like 10 years, and I was kind of burned out… It was hard for me to feel like I was finding joy in music.”
Between an exhausting tour schedule and constantly working on new content, getting back in the studio seemed harder than ever.
“I wanted to make something that felt just immediate– and useful– and felt like something that was fresh,” Rector said. “That’s kind of the sort of mission statement that I came into the record with. It’s not a perfect record. There’s things about it that I would probably change, but I feel like on the whole it really feels like that to me, and I feel like people are really responding to the immediacy it has.”
Although Rector may have spent less time than usual on “Brand New,” this certainly did not retract from his overall goal when it comes to the music he makes.
“What I appreciate in music and art is something that is well done, but that is also still approachable,” Rector said. “I love when something can just be appreciated, or taken at face value… That’s the art I try to make. If you just wanted to listen to a catchy song, I hope you would think that my songs are catchy and aesthetically appealing. And if you were into music and wanted to dig a little bit deeper into the craft, then I hope there’s enough meat there.”
Rector’s hope is that all listeners may have this sort of experience with his music.
“We kind of try to keep it interactive and entertaining,” Rector said. “We know people paid money to come and be entertained. The guys in the band are genuinely phenomenal musicians. So, if you are there, and you appreciate music, I think you will be pleased with the arrangements as well as the caliber of the performance.”
Ben Rector is playing at The Lyric tonight, March 3, and the doors open at 7 p.m. Tickets range in price from $22-$25 and can be found on The Lyric’s website.
– Austin Hille
