(Engl. text below)
Schon als Kernmitglied bei den enorm erfolgreichen Bands Bellowhead, Faustus und der Seth Lakeman Band fing Benji Kirkpatrick an, Songs für ein eigenes Bandprojekt zu schreiben. Es sollte für den Fan der Jimi Hendrix Experience, Cream, ZZ Top und The Police unbedingt ein klassisches Power-Trio werden, das für Kirkpatrick „die perfekte Instrumentierung bietet“, um seine Songs mit größtmöglichen Effekt rüberzubringen.

In seinem ehemaligen Bellowhead-Bandkollegen Pete Flood am Schlagzeug sowie Pete Thomas am elektrischen und Kontrabass fand Kirkpatrick die ideale Besetzung: „Having played mainly acoustic music for a long time, I wanted to kick things up a bit with a rocky sound“.

Das Debütalbum Gold Has Worn Away des Trios wird im November 2019 bei Westpark Musik erscheinen und ist ein energisches, vom Rhythmus getriebenes Alt Roots-Rock-Album, manchmal roh und schroff, manchmal gefühlvoll, und immer kraftvoll.

In Songs wie „Human Cost“, „Hiring Fair“ oder „A Classic Cut“ nimmt es sich explizit politischen und sozialen Themen an, Stücke wie „Back To The Fold“ oder „Fill My Heart“ sind dagegen persönlicher Natur wie Benji Kirkpatrick sagt: „I think there is a micro and a macro level to things; sometimes the very personal stuff has a parallel on a bigger scale, so songs can be applied on both levels, with bigger political or social issues being mirrored by private ones. Inter-personal relationships are affected by the pressures of the modern day and that wears away at them and causes strain.”

Der Albumtitel Gold Has Worn Away bezieht sich darauf, dass die Verheißungen der westlichen kapitalistischen Gesellschaften immer weiter verblassen und hinter ihrer Fassade ihre eigentlichen Mechanismen sichtbar werden. „I feel that people are largely ready for songs about social and political matters, the times sort of demand it“, so Kirkpatrick und weiter, „the divisions that are driven politically and socially see to it that there will always be two sides to argue over something.”

Live spielen die Drei neben den neuen Songs auch Stücke von Benjis Alben Boomerang (2008) und Hendrix Songs (2015). Mit den Neuinterpretationen auf Letzterem setzte er mit seinem „memorably aggressive“ Stil (Mojo) einem seiner musikalischen Helden ein Denkmal. Die britische Sunday Times schrieb über das Album: „This is a rare chance to hear the songs stripped back to their atmospheric essentials" und Classic Rock sagte: „It’s testament to Jimi’s song-writing that the songs slip their identities so readily, with ‚Voodoo Child’ becoming a cowboy storm cloud and ‚Crosstown Traffic’ revealing unexpected poignancy." Jimi Hendrix’ Einfluss ist auch auf Gold Has Worn Away hörbar, vor allem im von Hendrix‘ Song „Foxy Lady“ inspirierten Instrumental „Got To Be All Mine“.
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Benji Kirkpatrick was still a member of renowned bands Bellowhead, Faustus and the Seth Lakeman Band when he started writing songs for an own project. As a huge fan of the Jimi Hendrix Experience, Cream, ZZ Top and The Police, he chose the classic power trio format to provide “the perfect instrumentation” to realise his songs with the biggest imaginable impact.

He found the ideal line-up with his former Bellowhead band colleagues Pete Flood on drums and Pete Thomas on electric and double bass: “Having played mainly acoustic music for a long time, I wanted to kick things up a bit with a rocky sound.”

The trio’s debut album Gold Has Worn Away, to be released in November 2019 on Westpark Music, has become a dynamic, rhythmic alt roots rock album, ranging from raw and abrasive sounds to beautiful emotional moments with a strong underlying power.

Songs like “Human Cost”, “Hiring Fair” or “A Classic Cut” deal explicitly with political and social issues, whereas “Back To The Fold” or “Fill My Heart” look at things from a more personal angle, as Benji Kirkpatrick describes: “I think there is a micro and a macro level to things; sometimes the very personal stuff has a parallel on a bigger scale, so songs can be applied on both levels, with bigger political or social issues being mirrored by private ones. Inter-personal relationships are affected by the pressures of the modern day and that wears away at them and causes strain.”

The album title Gold Has Worn Away refers to the fading promises of Western capitalist society, making the machinations behind the façade becoming more and more obvious. Kirkpatrick continues: “I feel that people are largely ready for songs about social and political matters, the times sort of demand it. The divisions that are driven politically and socially see to it that there will always be two sides to argue over something.”

In concert, the threesome don’t just stick the new songs but also include material from Benji’s albums Boomerang (2008) and Hendrix Songs (2015). The latter – a bow to one of his biggest musical heroes – contained a collection of new interpretations of Hendrix’ classic songs and was particularly praised by Mojo for its “memorably aggressive” style. The Sunday Times commented: „This is a rare chance to hear the songs stripped back to their atmospheric essentials”, while Classic Rock said: “It’s testament to Jimi’s song-writing that the songs slip their identities so readily, with ‘Voodoo Chile’ becoming a cowboy storm cloud and ‘Crosstown Traffic’ revealing unexpected poignancy.” Hendrix’ influence is also strongly palpable on Gold Has Worn Away, particularly in the ‘Foxy Lady’ inspired instrumental “Got To Be all Mine”.