Album Notes

Propelled by groove, energy, and a theatrical performance style, Laura Benjamin and her dynamic band are the next big thing on the Atlanta pop-rock music scene. With eclectic use of Latin beats, jazz chord progressions, and even country-style three-part harmony, the music is innovative and multi-dimensional. Influences include Fleetwood Mac, the Corrs, the Dixie Chicks, Rufus Wainwright, the Eagles, R.E.M., and Sarah McLachlan, with a nod to the jazz greats like the Gershwins, Duke Ellington and Irving Berlin.

Benjamin places emotional honesty at the heart of her songwriting; several of her songs are reflections of love and loss. Still other songs’ capture more whimsical concerns – standing on one’s own, putting down roots in unexpected places, even musing over the fate of no-longer-planet Pluto. Her lyrical style is both quirky and accessible, while her knack for catchy melodic hooks gives the songs a universal appeal.

Benjamin began her full-time music career shortly after graduating from Yale University in 1999. From 2001 – 2004, she and several of her current bandmates performed widely around the southeast as members of the swing band The Zoots, with Benjamin as a lead vocalist and keyboard player. Since then, she has also performed extensively as a solo artist, been a featured member of a musical satire troupe, and been involved in several other bands. In 2006 Benjamin wrote, arranged and began performing the powerful originals featured on her debut album, let it go.