By Brent Thompson
Photo Credit: Dave Long
Often times, the musical term “experimental” doesn’t equate with a listener-friendly experience, but Marco Benevento takes us on his sonic flights without forgetting we are on board for the ride. For more than a decade, the pianist/vocalist/producer/record label founder has melded Rock, Jazz and Electronica to create his own unique sound. In addition to his extensive solo output, Benevento has lended his talents to a number of projects including Joe Russo’s Almost Dead, Garage A Trois, Benevento/Russo Duo and even the Led Zeppelin tribute band Bustle In Your Hedgerow. In 2017, he released the live Woodstock Sessions, recorded in his adopted home of Woodstock, N.Y. On Friday, February 9, Benevento will make his debut Birmingham performance at Saturn. Alexander Isaiah will open the 9 p.m. show. Recently, we spoke to Benevento by phone from his Woodstock home.
Birmingham Stages: Marco, thanks for your time. If you will, talk about the setting and recording of Woodstock Sessions.
Marco Benevento: It’s two miles down the road from my house so it’s close by. It’s like a barn studio – a big live room and a control room. They squeeze about 100 people in there and they have a barbecue beforehand and we played two sets of music and we picked the best ones from the two sets. I wanted to put it all on the record but it was too long. It was a great experience. They’ve had other bands come to do [live sessions] – Bad Brains, John Medeski, Nels Cline. It’s a pretty rich musical community around here.
Birmingham Stages: Had you been to the venue before you played it?
MB: I had worked there on some other records so I’d been there a bunch, but this was my first official in-studio live gig to be recorded. Everybody played great and it was the last night of the tour so we were all warmed-up and happy to be home.
Birmingham Stages: If you will, talk about your record label – Royal Potato Family – that you started with co-founder, Kevin Calabro. In addition to your recordings, the label has released albums by Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey, Grayson Capps, Neal Casal and The New Mastersounds among others.
MB: It was conceived about eight years ago. I was working on my second record and people from [record label] Verve showed a lot of interest in putting out our record and it was cool to get support from a major label. When we were ready to move forward, they just vanished – I don’t know what happened. My manager, Kevin, said, “Verve or no Verve, let’s put your record out and start our own label.” So that’s how Royal Potato Family started. We got a little boost of confidence and we brought a lot of our friends into the label.
Birmingham Stages: In addition to your solo career, you stay busy with other musical projects.
MB: With Joe Russo’s Almost Dead, we do about 40 shows a year and just play the music of the Grateful Dead – you can’t go wrong with that. Garage A Trois – I don’t what’s happened – it’s sort of disintegrated. I keep busy – I play around Woodstock when I’m home and it’s a great community. [Levon Helm’s daughter] Amy Helm has Levon’s barn and it’s still happening and they have shows there. The tradition of the [concert series] “Midnight Ramble” has faded but they do have shows there.
Birmingham Stages: How do you find time to do all that you do?
MB: I don’t know [laughs]. I go back and look at my calendar and I’m like, “How in the heck did I do that?” Its tough but I just do it. I love playing music so that’s the big thing and it pays the rent. It’s tough – I have two kids but my wife holds down the fort here.
Marco Benevento will perform at Saturn on Friday, February 9. Doors open at 8 p.m. and showtime is 9 p.m. Advance tickets to the 18+ show are $12 and can be purchased at www.saturnbirmingham.com.