Ben Prestage - Live At Pineapple Willy's (2009)

Acoustic bluesman Ben Prestage is an old-school stylist in the Charley Patton vein, mining the rich history of the Mississippi Delta blues, Piedmont blues, roots-rock, and Americana for his inspired one-man-band show. His rich guitar tone is accompanied by a whiskey-soaked, albeit supple voice, and a steady rhythm provided by his foot-pedal-operated bass drum. Covering classic material by such great songwriters and performers as Muddy Waters, Furry Lewis, Brownie McGhee, and R.L. Burnside, Prestage knocks them all out of the park.

Ben Prestage is a "one man band" in every sense of the word – a good singer, above-average guitar picker, able to keep a beat with a foot-pedal and bass drum and, if Live At Pineapple Willy's is any indication, an entertaining performer. Recorded live in front of an enthusiastic Panama City Beach audience on spring break in March 2008, the two-disc album features a whopping 27 songs, the entire performance clocking in at nearly an hour-and-a-half of lively blues jams.

Prestage has been kicking around the country for the better part of the last decade, busking on historic Beale Street in Memphis with fellow solo bandman Richard Johnston, as well as performing in clubs and blues festivals across the country. He's come up just short of the money in the 2006, '07, and '08 International Blues Challenges, but made respectable showings nonetheless, and if his throwback sound tends to scare off a lot of record labels, he's still managed to feed the beast, and Live At Pineapple Willy's is Prestage's fifth album.

What can you expect from Ben Prestage and Live At Pineapple Willy's? First of all, Prestage's performance is polished – not to a mirror-finish, but rather in the sense that he has all this stuff down to a science and is confident in his talents. The songs retain a certain rawness and energy, but Prestage's playing of them is highly stylized and unique in execution. There aren't a whole lot of original tunes to be found here...songwriting is not yet Prestage's long suite, and when he does sling out a few words, they tend to be a bit on the crude, humorous side, as with "Weedhead." Instead, he brings his talents to bear on an inspired setlist of Mississippi Delta blues, roots-rock, folk, and Piedmont blues covers.

As a result, whether he's kicking a Delta-styled remix of Muddy Waters' classic "Can't Be Satisfied;" belting out a reverent version of Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Curtis Lowe;" or getting rowdy with the Grateful Dead's spry "Friend of the Devil," Prestage manages to leave his fingerprints on every song. R.L. Burnside's Hill Country dirge "Goin' Down South" is provided an appropriately hypnotic and menacing reading, and his rendition of Rev. Gary Davis' "Death Don't Have No Mercy" is frighteningly chilling. The 1930s jump-n-jive pro-marijuana tune "Viper" is hilariously droll, while Furry Lewis' country-blues rocker "Natural-Born Easeman" is delivered with appropriate swagger and urgency.

Whether he's cranking out juke-joint blues or Southern gospel, Americana or funky New Orleans soul, Ben Prestage brings no little talent and plenty of vision to every performance. Prestage is carrying on in an honored blues tradition, that of the everyman-as-troubadour, and fans of acoustic blues will find a lot to like about Live At Pineapple Willy's. (self-produced, released March 26, 2009)

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