My Sunshine

Difficult to tell for sure, but I think today’s the day it clicked for Maggie. “Oh, that sound I keep hearing from the speakers is Daddy.” Maggie’s a handfull. I mean, she’s actually quite fun: short on tears, long on giggles and squeals. But she’s super-curious and uber-wobbly. Maggie’s primary passtime is unloading her bookshelf…

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Golden Slumbers: Benjamin Wagner’s “Forever Young” Track-By Track

The hardest part about recording “Golden Slumbers” with Casey Shea was asking Casey Shea to record “Golden Slumbers.” I’ve known Mr. Shea pushing ten years now. Still, it didn’t take ten minutes to discover his affinity for The Fab Four. At his own wedding, Casey nailed “All My Loving.” At my wedding (where the purvasive…

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You’ve Got A Friend: Benjamin Wagner’s “Forever Young” Track-By Track

I’d been angling to collaborate with Raining Jane’s Mai Bloomfield for nearly three years. It took me that long to find the right song. I first met Mai in 2008. Raining Jane was opening for The Nadas in Des Moines. I was opening for both. The ladies knocked my socks off with their three-part harmony.…

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Best “Forever Young” Review Ever!

In seventh grade, Mrs. Culp kicked me out of her music class. That she should find me twenty-five years later to tell me that she’s “impressed beyond words” with my new benefit CD, “Forever Young,” then, is sweet relief — and my best review ever. Mrs. Culp’s junior high music class was a south-facing, high-ceilinged,…

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Sweet Baby James: Benjamin Wagner’s “Forever Young” Track-By Track

Jeff Jacobson and Patrick Riley have never met, and are separated by a thousand miles of Heartland. Still, they helped me create one of the most-beautiful recordings of my life. For nearly twenty years, I’ve described my brand of singer/songwriter fare as “Less James Taylor, More James Hetfield.” It’s a stretch for those who know…

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You Are My Sunshine: Benjamin Wagner’s “Forever Young” LP Track-By-Track

Funny how things change. Years ago now, I was in a country cover band called The Smith Family. Almost Home producer Kevin Anthony had tired of of his techno outfit, Electroland, so formed the band with a nod to his Galveston, TX, country roots. I eagerly signed on. Kevin and I split front man duties…

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Mr. Tambourine Man: Benjamin Wagner’s “Forever Young” LP Track-By-Track

It may not be immediately apparent, but the “Forever Young” track list is intended to reflect the arch of the day. From from “Rainbow Connection” through “Moon River,” the lyrics, instrumentation, and production start bigger and brighter, then transition to more somber and sleepy. “Mr. Tambourine Man,” then, is all about the transition to night.…

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Top Seven “Forever Young” Benefit Show Moments

This weekend’s two “Forever Young” Benefit CD Release Shows were something special. We performed two: one for kids, and one for folks who like booze. Both were outstanding, and filled with inspiring, outrageous, and silly moments. Here are my top seven: 7 – Fundraising Is Fun We raised nearly $1000 for children’s media research and…

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The Only Living Boy In New York: Benjamin Wagner’s “Forever Young” LP Track-By-Track

Growing up, “The Boxer” and “Bridge Over Troubled Water” were in far heavier rotation than “The Only Living Boy In New York.” Sadly (perhaps), it took 2004’s “Garden State” to re-introduce this Simon & Garfunkle classic, the b-side to “Cecilia.” Apparently, Simon wrote the song as a thinly-veiled message to Art Garfunkel when he jetted…

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Forever Young: Benjamin Wagner’s “Forever Young” LP Track-By-Track

In the summer of 1971, my mother was learning to play acoustic guitar. I was born in September, deep in the heart of the Singer/Songwriter Era: James Taylor, Carol King, Bob Dylan Jackson Brown, John Denver, Crosby, Stills & Nash were all on heavy rotation on The Wagner Family hi-fi. My birth announcement was the…

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