As Benjamin Tod continues to release music – whether under his own name or with Lost Dog Street Band – you can’t help but wonder how he’ll surpass whatever his most recent work was. Yet, time and again, he does. His latest album, Shooting Star, is no exception.
In Shooting Star, Tod revisits familiar themes from his past – hopping trains, finding trouble, life, loss and other vagabond-rooted misadventures.. However, in this release, Tod leans more heavily into a classic country sound and delivery, creating a refreshing listen that sits at the crossroads of his past and present influences.
Throughout Shooting Star, Tod explores nearly all of country music’s subgenres. Tracks like “Mary Could You” evoke the spirit of the Bakersfield Sound, while the album’s title track returns to the slow, folk-style storytelling more familiar to longtime listeners.. Yet, this is followed by the upbeat, danceable Western Swing of “Satisfied With Your Love.” No matter how you try to categorize it, Shooting Star is a standout contribution to honky-tonk music and is poised to stand the test of some time to come.
“If you want to get healthier, you have to start intentionally behaving like a healthy person. You have to look around you and adapt to those things – if you don’t change your identity, it’s hard to change yourself,” says Tod.
Shooting Star carves a fresh creative path for Tod. Once a self-proclaimed “proprietor of misery,” he now embraces a life defined by gratitude, patience, and stability.
– @meanwhile_in_music
