Johnny Bennett: Red Light Room

by George Thompson

A rousing songfest.

---

Well, I’ll be dashed!  I never know what’s going to be in my mailbox from day to day.  I opened this gem—no program notes, shucks!—and could not believe my ears when I played it.  Only five songs, folks.  But, they were five songs that grabbed me and held on until the last note of “This Year’s Lie” had played.  I went to Bennett’s Web site myspace.com/johnnybennett and the first song on the CD, “Chance Meeting,” was playing.  The picture on the CD cover just doesn’t do Johnny Bennett justice after seeing him on myspace.com, folks.

This is “not” The Johnny Bennett Band, or The Johnny Bennett Wranglers.  This is Johnny Bennett.  The group—let’s call it that—is made up of Bennett (vocals/guitar), Trevor Morgan (guitar), Adrian Walther (bass), Richie Peña (drums/programming), and Tim Veazy (piano).  Bennett has a rich, full voice that comes across strong and he uses it well without losing control; it’s almost like he could fill an auditorium and sing to the back row without a mike and still have glorious tones.  There wasn’t a single warble in his voice.  Frankly folks, I was disappointed this CD only had five songs on it.  All of them were new to me and I wanted more.  I even expected to see a DVD movie play after the last song.  This man is good and I don’t know if the producers are timid about showing his talents or just exactly what.  But, we definitely need more from this promising singer.

I’m sure he’s had to play in dives and honky tonks and make the rounds of sleazy places, but this singer can go places.  I’ve been trying to think of someone to compare his to, but you know what?  I can’t think of anyone.  He’s not a Garth Brooks, a Brad Paisley, a George Jones, a Kenny Rogers.  He’s a Johnny Bennett and that’s good enough for me.  I’d love to be sitting in the audience the night he debuts for the Grand Ole Opry.  As I said, he can probably sing without a mike and scare up the back row.  That’s a powerful singer and that’s what I get when I listen to his CD.  I cranked up the volume, I turned it down to a whisper.  Every word was clear both ways.

Log on to myspace.com/johnnybennett and listen to his music.  You will not be disappointed by the music you hear.  In fact, you’re going to walk away from your computer wanting more from this singer.  I propose we all write to his production company, False Momentum Songs, and ask them to release more of this man’s wonderful music.  Maybe we’re the ones who need to set off an alarm that it’s time to hear more from this man.