Lost Dog Street Band - Benjamin Tod Interview

[@shelbycriswellart]

Matt Heckler and Benjamin Tod quit drinking and it really made me step back and realize that I needed to do the same. I don't have any heroes, but those two guys are as close as it gets to someone who has influenced my life in a positive way. I just hit one year sober and am not looking back!

[@toddvarney3319]

congrats! I’m coming up on 4 years myself. I found BT after I quit drinking but has definitely helped keep my head right over the last couple years.

[@SinfulLilPixie]

Im starting my sobriety as well Matt Heckler and Benjamin Todd are the real deal. Congratulations are your sobriety You got randos rooting for you!

[@JackMoreauMusic]

I used to hop freight, play music all over the country and drink whiskey everyday til I fell over. 5 months sober now. Still writing songs and going to move to the Montana country side. Learned I don't need to be in misery to write about my misery. Ben Tod is a huge influence for sure. Congrats on your recovery!

[@dakotacrowson5021]

Do They still drink a little

[@rbates6226]

Sounds good.. the only good time I have is still when I'm chugging beers and giving it hell. I'm 49

[@AndrewLarson]

I'm pretty sure I saw this guy at some point in Oregon when I was harmonica busking there at some point. I remember being blown away and wishing I played guitar or banjo.

[@hikerzeek8844]

I relate to this dude so much.i ran away from home joined a hard-core band then discovered long distance hiking and in n.c. found out about the mountain tunes.i got the wood stove lit in my tent and I'm about to smokeout to some lost dog. 12 degrees stay frosty my friends

[@joshmajor8662]

I’m in Kentucky myself, got to see them live in Lexington. Loved every second!! Lol been trying to get ahold of Ben and Ashley about their barn they needed torn down. I’m a blacksmith and I just want a few pieces of wood Lol I’m a few counties away from Mullenburg

[@garrystevenson9780]

I'll be watching them at the V Club in Huntington WV & I cannot sufficiently put into words how stoked I am for this show. Not many artists music has the real soul & emotion that bleeds through such as these guys & I'm grateful for the honor.

[@RiverRatsKayaking]

One of my all time favorites! Seen em live a few times and ill trade em for nothin! Just found this podcast show and i think imma hold onto this.

[@joshuaadams5295]

Part 2 please hahah. I could watch Ben talk about music and life for hours and hours. Amazing content great podcast!! Keep it up!

[@mayapealer3339]

Just got home from driving 1.5 hours to see them. Would drive farther! So awesome live!

[@santsi7306]

Life is work is something I'm wrapping my head around. It's good to hear that the work days become something else. 4 years is amazing. the night after the resonant rogues were playing in Nashville and my brother told me lost dog is playing. I was like they're home is in Kentucky tho... I'm glad the storm didn't mess y'all up too bad. I hope to go to the show.

[@coltgardiner6609]

Lost dog Street band y'all are awesome, hands down..!! It's crazy how many of y'all's tunes I can relate to from my past experiences & that to me is extremely rewarding, so thank you..!! If y'all are ever in Missouri near St. Joseph we'd love to welcome y'all in for a show!! Peace

[@tomlamiam]

I listened to your podcast last night and am now watching it. Thanks for this!

[@mikehylton1657]

Wish the quality was better .... it was hard to understand at times ... but glad I came across this.... my favorite artist (maybe tied for first)

[@TheCoyoteRadioShowPodcast]

I'm with u...I think the cows were blocking Ben's signal out in the country side. Lol. We are doing it in person next time!

[@mikehylton1657]

@@TheCoyoteRadioShowPodcast 🤣🤣🤣 I would be thankful to see it

[@jackberg6484]

@@TheCoyoteRadioShowPodcast I hope you are serious. We need more, you're the best guy to interview him because it's so genuine. Please do a part two

[@princesszelda4641]

I'm so happy he told ben he was the best lyrisist of our generation 👑💪🏽👑

[@Papa_Grind]

The absolute truth, Ben is a genius.

[@ryanthomas4018]

@@Papa_Grind He is up there but Isbell still has that crown, but Ben and Sturgill are close behind. Al my opinion of course, to each their own.

[@MJCenac76]

Ben must be talking about the dog that barked in Gems Hungry for you blues. He barked at the perfect moment in the song!

[@jackberg6484]

Thank you for this

[@oldguitarnewsong2500]

Nice interview, really enjoyed this. Great work, keep at it.

[@benjefferis3901]

I was sceptical at first but this was actually a great interview, looking forward to the next time.

[@matthewcampbell1291]

I got a🎫 in NC ready for February. It was my Christmas 🎁.

[@cheapvodka9942]

yup ben an ashley i luv them

[@alexanderabdskyy]

Great content, thanks.

[@thealaskanforever]

Benjamin talking about his drunk/black out times really made me look back on mine haha. Really enjoyed this episode. Greetings from good ‘ol Alaska. I actually plan to buy land in Kentucky and to open a ranch some day. Muhlenberg sounds great haha. Cheers!

[@longgone696]

I'm from Wrangell in SE, where you at?

[@thealaskanforever]

@@longgone696 I’m from Petersburg haha. But I live somewhere else in AK now.

[@longgone696]

@@thealaskanforever Small world always. I've spent a lot of time in Pberg doing halibut and dungeonss.. I'm way up at Nettles Field right now. I miss SE, it's been -60 for the past three weeks here. . Very dark, but it's been a really wild year for the Aurora. This far north you can see every star in the sky. Good times

[@thealaskanforever]

@@longgone696 I’m in north Alaska right now.

[@Notsowhistlindiesel]

Absolutely love Ben and the whole lost dog family what a great episode!!

[@theresaamick]

I thought I was the only person who refuses to call Guy Clark country. Forever I couldn’t even find his first 2 albums: Texas Cooking & self-titled. I still can’t find Guy doing his song Voilà (an American Dream). I saw Jerry Jeff Walker did a cover but Guy sang his song the best in that instance. Oh that is so cool that you didn’t even know who had created certain songs but learned them say in a guitar circle or through your wife - by proxy and then came to find out later who had actually written the song… Then you went back & listened to the song to find it has morphed into what it originally was! That’s incredible! That is such a treat & a delight. I mean it’s amazing to find acoustic versions or covers even yet you did it in reverse which is fucking bad ass! That’s the best thing since spice racks. I never could call John Prine country either - or folk. No genre perfectly fits anyone I truly love. I was surprised I couldn’t find Benjamin Tod doing Paradise just because: daddy won’t you take me back to Muhlenberg County…or ‘When I was a child my family would travel down to Western Kentucky where my parents were born & there's a backwards old town that's often remembered so many times that my memories are worn’ or ‘sometimes we'd travel right down the Green River to the abandoned old prison down by Airdrie Hill’ or ‘when I die let my ashes float down the Green River, let my soul roll on up to the Rochester Dam”. It really fits & differently than any tribute since he passed. As soon as I read the word: Muhlenberg I knew that he meant for you to play that one - maybe bring it to your audience & therefore, keep its soul alive. It fits you like a well worn glove, Benjamin. TBH, I just heard you for 1st time tonight. I clicked Using Again, played it on repeat as I read comments & while I clicked on a wiki thinking who the hell is this anyway? You’ve got a style all your own which is a magical quality. Maybe Shakey Graves & you could be friends. If they want to call you Bluegrass which I’m not going to do it & want to call Shakey americana and then I see they’re calling Colter Wall rockabilly… WTF ever! But wow that’d be some ménage à trois. To turn a phrase from John Prine, that’d be like Allah & Buddha & a Canadian rabbi all singing at the savior’s feast while feeding Quaker Oats to a priest. That’d be pretty good, not bad - I can’t complain. I read your whole story so by the time I heard The Paper & the Ink… I felt it. I have been wondering like it’s bothering me that I don’t know what happened to Shannon. I’m not even going to say hope this or that bc as if. But is she okay? Are you okay? I’m so terribly sorry. I can’t even begin to imagine what it must be like for you - & your wife. I absolutely love your descriptive writing that accompanies each Gem song. It’s such a treat & I’m not sure why I’d be surprised that you can write so beautifully. Man those stories are as good as a 2nd song. Like the story about …what was her name… also just heard her on a Gem playlist - you wrote about catching her in the wild while seeing she looked no differently. Then although she was late, she eventually showed later for recording. Or the barn - every story is fantastically written like I was in that bar that was like a treehouse in a mystical forest with ppl dancing by the light of the bonfire… 🔥

[@theresaamick]

I may have just found you today but I’ve known you my whole life. A great songwriter is so often a best friend better than anyone’s ever had. I know that’s true for everyone or it just has to be (except my grandparents who said they stopped listening to music at age 40 when they stopped honky Tonkin’ which to me, is a tragedy. I think they were an exception to the rule because otherwise game recognize game). A great songwriter is a reflection in the mirror of a person’s soul as well as a true kindred spirit, even if they never know you exist. I think music easily escapes the bonds of time which is only a construct of man anyway. There is no real space between people if they reach you. It’s as if you meet up in that moment even if it spans decades or if they are not around anymore. It’s as if you just know. I have to believe that somewhere across time & space, we all will meet in the middle which somehow, is Now. I’m not surprised at all that you can write a song THAT fast & that the songs are coming easily. Now it’s a supernatural power to be able to tap into it & perform post or during heavy using. THAT’S simply AMAZING. But I saw since you began you are just cranking out the compilations year after year. You have a wonderful gift. When I talk about meeting in the middle, I am imagining those ghosts of old magazines meeting up say, in Luckenbach where ain’t nobody feeling no pain. Like if there is anything - I hope there’s a big guitar circle, fireside in the night right beside us on some alternate plane. Okay you just said a reason WHY you don’t play certain songs. I can attest that the fng vascular system is my WORST problem while fighting Stage 4. I was always afraid it might be an issue. Shit yes it’s a f&ckng issue!!Anyway you said why, but all of JP’s songs (he was a lyrical genius in a backasswards way) always shared the same 3 chords. He was the first to say it wasn’t about his playing ability. I think JP saw everyone - no matter how small or large the venue bc he started nodding after I went to a few front row concerts. OMG I say that constantly - I literally cannot chew bubble gum & walk anymore. (I do smoke+use). It’s amazing that’s what is going to take me out b4 the illness. Now that I think about it, it’s actually apropos. I completely understand why you make sure to not see anyone in particular. I had to do that -by looking into the lights as then I could focus on a single silhouette, drown out the crowds & be comfortable in my own skin. Then it was very personal/intimate bc actually it was my own imagination. I love your podcast. You said you love live music. I love acoustic or stripped for the same reason. There’s nothing like the personal experience. For me mostly it won’t be live unless it’s in person. At home I don’t want to hear the crowd but do crave that intimacy. You are a fantastic interviewer & I felt like it could have carried on for hours just like a call from an old friend. It was really nice. I started my journey at 13 in the punk scene so we 3 share that. I was really into it so I didn’t ever see accepting such diverse genres - damn shot up meth b4 a concert… wait … DAMN!! wait .. fuck!! Dude IDK HOW you didn’t run out of the place & all the way down the street while screaming into the night. Lololol. ‘Worst GD show I’ve ever played’. Man I can’t really imagine even walking outside of the house while way out there on meth, much less performing. I did a bunch of C before performing once & was like a freakin deer in headlights. I still say the same to this day - worst GD show I’ve ever done. Lol. I just don’t even like coke anymore which is crazy bc I knew I’d die on crack - so to now years later not even like it?? Well before all the NOPE moved onto the scene, meth could cure crack addiction but i never could envision a day that the inner monologue wouldn’t drive me insane much less those gut wrenching cravings. Yet POOF!! Then again NOTHING works now. It’s all downhill once you realize drinking doesn’t even work anymore. And that’s a shame. If I could drink myself back into enjoying it, god knows I tried. It’s a terrible surprise that they were right. One day everything stops working. I never believed it ever like yeah right, how do you fng figure?? Well, I can attest to it now. Nothing works, it’s just not how I thought they were saying. I couldn’t imagine it because I guess I didn’t HEAR it correctly. It’s so hard to explain yet imagine having a painful term illness, anxiety fng through the roof & you don’t even WANT to sleep bc you’ll sleep when your dead. Besides drugs just don’t fix things anymore. Nothing ever worked for pain so that part is just too bad. By now I couldn’t force opiates to make me goofy/loopy just like i can’t get drunk but can try & go straight from sober to blackout if i tried to force it. Opiates are just to keep the sick off which ha! I suppose that’s all they were really ever for anyway. It sucks but I’d guess others know something about this, too. I guess if I’d never used anything then everything would work splendidly today. I’d LOVE to get high today & esp before I go but nothing works. Well maybe K but I can’t find it. I worried a lot about what would happen if I was ever in an accident or got really sick like perhaps I was unable to communicate. I worried so much so that I wanted a pendant or a tattoo that screamed GO FOR THE NECK!! Unfortunately, they don’t do that. Whatever. Sheshed !! Awesome 👏 Yeah but not by the sheshore where happy, naked people collect sheshells. I would have guessed what you crave in your downtime is to be a happy idiot…ok you don’t believe in fun. For the longest time I despised such easily amused people (jealousy) then I began to yearn to be one. Basically that’s just the desire for simple peace of mind. It is like a freight train. When I heard one touch a down a block away once, I even joked with a friend as we were standing outside by saying to her - it sounds like a freight train doesn’t it?! And then by the time we turned around there were trees through car windows and half of building blown away. I was only joking so it was almost serendipitous yet not - because it was exactly what it sounded like. That was just a tiny storm. I can only imagine if it was something that small, what a huge storm would sound like. It would have to be deafening. I wonder if you heard it or if your wife told you in a way that you can hear it… There’s a JP song that says: Yesterday morning an ill wind came and blew your picture right out of the picture frame. That is a super cool story. The song which also says: we were born too late & died too soon - anxiety’s a terrible crime, if you can’t come now don’t come at all - is called ‘Crooked Piece of Time’. The more I think about it, it must’ve happened to him. There’s no other way & now along with your story, it finally makes sense. I never thought of it literally but I bet you that is exactly what happened. That’s awesome. I really enjoyed your interviewing skills & the setting. It does feel extremely personal. I’ve subscribed to both. Love you guys & anyone that reads anything. Thank you for a fabulous podcast. The only other thing you could do is to ask a musician to play a song. I’m sure you’ve thought of this - I just haven’t yet perused your repertoire. Again, thank you for a wonderful evening. ❤️

[@quantumgiggles2806]

He is PHENOMENAL, TOTAL Music Ear Candy when it's a Benjamin Tod Song ..... ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

[@mikekaplan5565]

Love this dude. Was he saying Sierra Ferrell arranged The Mountain though? Not sure which Sierra he is talking about

[@TheCoyoteRadioShowPodcast]

Sierra Ferrell yes

[@averagesteel9666]

Damn, Ben’s setup looks Comfy.

[@dakotacrowson5021]

You asked some great questions

[@longgone696]

Benjamin Tod's name will be in the stone between Townes and Guy.

[@joshmajor8662]

I’m shocked Ben’s connection stated strong enough to do this!! Lol

[@lowonlife_highondeath]

Fucking STOKED!

[@dakotacrowson5021]

I will one day share a conversation with ben and play a couple songs.

[@jasonmattarolo2138]

Come to Eugene Oregon

[@longgone696]

They played the Alladin in Portland last August. I've been to many many shows, but I gotta say Lost Dog is in my top 5 of all time. When they come back, it's super worth whatever you need to do to get there. Ben is a damn legend in the making.

[@dakotacrowson5021]

I took the bus 3 hours one way for the opening show on the 13th, my birthday. Most exceptional live show that ive ever seen.

[@dakotacrowson5021]

It actually sounded better than any recording ive heard, song for song. And matt heckler was outstanding.

[@longgone696]

@@dakotacrowson5021 Yeah man. Exactly. I play in a DooM metal band and have seen shows all over the world and LDSB is just different. The shows are a damn cathartic release. I feel like we are lucky to see them now like this because on day they if they get the respect they deserve are going to be playing a lot bigger rooms.

[@terryp9617]

Where's the fun albums, I wanna bye em all

[@aaronwalker5253]

Yeet.

[@jasonokay]

Casual fan. Saw them last night. Not really buying the sobriety thing... Their eyes looked glossy AF