Song Premiere: David Benedict, “Leaf By Niggle”

Artists in Their Own Words – Song Premiere

Artist: David Benedict (of Mile Twelve)

Upcoming release: The Golden Angle has been a studio project long in the works. In early 2017, soon after I moved up to Boston to start playing with my current band Mile Twelve, I began to write these tunes and dream about recording them someday. Feels amazing to look back a year and half later now that the album is finished! So thankful to have gotten to work with the stellar people on this project too. Grammy-nominated mandolinist Matt Flinner took the producer’s chair and we were joined by some of my favorite musicians in the bluegrass scene today, including David Grier, Mike Barnett, Missy Raines, Ross Martin, Stuart Duncan, and Wes Corbett. We tracked the songs over 2 sessions at Rec Room Studios in Nashville, TN, with engineer Ben Surratt.

Song: “Leaf By Niggle”

Quote: This track “Leaf by Niggle” is a nod to the great short story of the same title written by J.R.R Tolkien. When I first read this work, it really resonated with me how Niggle, the main character in the story, has a deep longing to be productive and to create beautiful art but keeps getting sidetracked by his own compulsions and distractions. Niggle has a grandiose vision to paint a beautiful, glorious tree but spends so much time obsessing over the details of each individual leaf that his whole life passes him by before he is able to finish. It’s not until he let’s all of his anxious ambitions go, that he finally finds a satisfaction in the work itself and a hope for future fulfillment. As I was composing this tune, I felt much like Niggle—banging my head against the wall, not being satisfied with the work, and worrying about originality. But when we went in to the studio to record this song, I felt that I was finally able to take a step back and just witness the whole thing come to life. I’m joined by Missy Raines (bass), Ross Martin (guitar), Stuart Duncan (fiddle), and Wes Corbett (banjo). Hope you enjoy it!

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The Golden Angle will be released October 26th, but is available for pre-order now HERE.