Traveling across the country and back again — through deserts, mountains and beaches — Benjamin London and his guitar have found a friend in street corners.
Known as busking, London performs in the streets of wherever he finds himself. Having recently returned from a busking stint at South by Southwest, or SXSW, London uses his improvised folk tunes as a storytelling outlet.
“Folk music, to me, is for the people. It’s a history — telling stories and handing them down to ordinary people,” London said. “Learning folk songs and learning how to play that style helps me understand life better.”
Village Green Records’ Folk Music Showcase.Village Green Records’ Folk Music Showcase.
Influenced by ‘60s folk garage rock, London said he believes improvising his way through songs allows him to unlock his subconscious, piecing his thoughts to make a message.
“If I wanted to write down everything that I saw in a day, it would drive me crazy,” he said. “Basically what I have to do is let it all happen, and then instead of writing about it, say what I think about it in little phrases.”
London has released a single and two collections of songs as his solo project, all of which are available for download on his Bandcamp page. He is also affiliated with the projects Royalty and She Creatures of the Hollywood Hills.
London, who graduated from Ivy Tech in Muncie, considers himself a part of the Fountain Square music community in Indianapolis. He said he has made music connections there, including one with Taylor, who has shared his wisdom with the younger London.
“I like to think of him as Yoda,” London said. “He’s been through it all. He’s really good at expressing himself through music.”
Taylor will play with a full band at his VGR performance, including Johnson, an assistant professor of music theory and composition at Ball State, on drums.
The group will play songs from Taylor and Johnson’s upcoming cassette/digital download release “Blues Tape.” Although every song on the tape was written by Taylor, Johnson has been involved with the recording process.
“On the final track on the album, ‘Crying Unto Thee,’ we had to improvise drums, as the kit I had on loan went away,” Johnson said. “On that track I recorded boot clicks and broom, and Christian plays a music stand and stomps. It turned out great, a really unique and interesting sound.”
The duo said they’ve been satisfied with how the album is coming along. Johnson said the songs are great, but the approach the two have taken in the studio is what really sets the music apart.
“Christian keeps saying, ‘This doesn’t sound like anything I’ve heard before,’” Johnson said.
Johnson said he enjoys working with Taylor, despite their contrast in musical backgrounds.
“Although we have very different experience and ways of working, Christian is more from the rock and folk world, and me from the classical world, we work together really well,” Johnson said. “You could say we have very complementary skill sets.”
Travis Harvey, VGR owner, said he’s happy to have Taylor return to the shop and perform, along with the other folk acts.
“The Village Green Records is excited to host a handful of central Indiana’s most talented singer-songwriters under one roof,” he said. “Christian Taylor has built an intriguing legacy in Indianapolis music history; his energy, colorful lyrics and songcraft are not to be missed.”
