BEN MORGAN-BROWN – ALBUM REVIEW

Ben Morgan-Brown – Moment 

Release Date: Out Now

People have approached the challenge of being a musician or creative during a pandemic in different ways but Devon’s Ben Morgan-Brown is the first I’ve come across who just sat down with his guitar and recorded an entire acoustic album. ‘Moment’ opens with the foot tapping finger picking gloriousness of ‘Old Hemp’ and you’re immediately transported to a stoop at the foot of the Appalachian Mountains as the sun starts to go down. ‘Mists’ keeps the mood going with that hypnotic finger picking before BMB, as his friends call him, gives us his beautifully atmospheric take on the folk classic ‘Scarborough’.

On ‘Northumberland Rags’ we are treated to a meandering melody with all the promise and optimism of a summer morning with nothing more on your agenda than walking down a country lane to an isolated beach. ‘One For Nathan’ is a mellower, more thoughtful affair while ‘Knotted Pines’ takes us back to those American frontiers as the guitar notes chime through the evening air and you can almost hear the crackle of the campfire in the background. There’s a playfulness to ‘Sketch’ that is steeped in English folk tradition before ‘The Banks of the Old River Platte’ picks us up and drops us in Missouri for some expert twanging on that ol’ six string.

This odyssey on guitar rounds the final bend with ‘Drake’s Mix’ which has more to do with an Elizabethan adventurer than a Canadian rapper before final track ‘Bat’ leaves us on a whimsical and warming high. My advice to you is get this album, put on some good quality speakers and sit out in your garden or at the front of your house with some sipping liquor – it’s a recipe for a perfect afternoon or evening. Or morning if you’re that way inclined but maybe stick to a cup of joe.

More information: https://www.facebook.com/benmorganbrown