Singer-songwriter and multidimensional artist Ben Goldsmith would like to tell you he “never could’ve imagined” this for himself, but he’s quick to note (call it confidence or a preternatural determination years in the making) that’d just not be true. “In a way, I’ve been working towards this since I was 3 or 4,” he says on a Zoom call from his Long Island bedroom. “I’ve never strayed. It’s the only thing I’ve ever wanted to do.”

That “thing” Ben’s referring to is making music – more than music, it’s lyrically- driven art. The music is free from genre, with a sharp point of view and melodies as strong as some of the teen’s many influences. Ben was born and bred on acts like Aerosmith, Dave Matthews Band, Elton John, Queen, Stevie Wonder, John Mayer, and Bob Dylan. Modern artists like Zach Bryan, Maggie Rogers, Steve Lacy, and Sam Fender round out his style and his sonic influences. Ben draws inspiration from the sort of iconoclasts who – like Ben – float between worlds, genres, and sounds. He’s not a jack, but a master of all trades.

The artist (who started playing instruments at 4) wrote his first song after accompanying his father, a criminal defense attorney, to court at age 6. “It was called ‘Criminal Disguise,’ and I made it on GarageBand by just strumming my guitar into my iPad’s microphone,” he says. The guitar he used was the one he had asked for Hanukkah after Hanukkah, having spotted the model in a catalogue sent to his doorstep. Ben had been taking lessons by that point, dedicating himself to the craft. Eventually, he took up jazz guitar, studying every Sunday at the Manhattan School of Music. After a year, he moved on to Mannes Prep at The New School where he studied jazz guitar under Joe Ravo, who encouraged him to trust his ear and focus on listening, in order to play solos melodically.

As he grew, more musical opportunities began to unfold before him: a summer camp at Berklee, forming bands, and a cross-country tour with the School of Rock All- Stars program. The latter included a stop at Lollapalooza, where he met a guitarist who worked with famed instructor Tomo Fujita (who taught John Mayer and has performed with many of music’s greatest, including Susan Tedeschi and Phil Collins). Three years of lessons with Tomo followed. All the while, Ben says, “I was playing with friends, gigging around the South, learning about rock, soul, jazz, blues –expanding my palate and just growing and growing every day.”

At age 12 Ben was introduced to industry veteran Mike Crowley, whose early career involved names such as Elvis Presley, Bob Dylan, The Beach Boys and Tom Petty. Later, he worked with many Texas songwriters including Hayes Carll and Bob Schneider. Mike recognized extraordinary talent in the young artist and decided to help Ben find his musical path. During this period Ben continued to rehearse and gig with his best friend, and bassist James Bandini. Ben describes the synergy between them as “our own language within the music we play.”

The year 2020 shifted Ben’s focus; quite literally. Band gigs were replaced with solo bedroom songwriting and jam sessions. He learned how to properly record himself using a DAW on his computer in between virtual classes and homework assignments. Simultaneously, Ben began sharpening his vocals, training himself to take the spotlight by learning to tell his own stories. “Things were happening so fast that I almost looked at school like, ‘this is taking time away from music,’” he says with a laugh.

What followed was a jump into the deep end. Mike introduced Ben’s music to producer Brad Jones. Brad was immediately hooked by the melodies and traveled up to New York to see the budding star’s process in person. Ben’s parents would soon be making regular road trips between Long Island and Nashville so Brad could spend time with Ben in the studio exploring ideas and concepts. Jones then started to introduce the budding artist to a carefully curated group of songwriters: Bobby Bare Jr., Olivia Wolf, Hayes Carll, and Aaron Raitiere. Brad became Ben’s Nashville shepherd. “Let me be a teacher,” Ben remembers him saying as he helped open the new chapter to Ben’s career. He was a producer, engineer, mixer, and musical visionary who brought Ben to the city and introduced him to his network, helping the artist stitch together the patchwork quilt of collaborators and confidantes Ben now calls part of his creative team. That chosen family, at Brad’s behest, took the teen’s vision seriously and started cutting tracks with him to help Ben grow and learn. “The energy is always there,” Ben says. “We were never working towards any goal other than making the best music we knew how to.”

Calling his process “the least prescriptive you could imagine,” Ben says his inspiration is omnipresent and never dictated. “For me, it’s about melody first,” he says. “What I write flows afterward with the incredible family of cowriters I’ve surrounded myself with. They understand me, and I trust them – it’s been amazing to build these songs from the ground up together.”

Speaking of songs: “One Day Believer,” his first official track, dropped in the Summer of 2022, the culmination of two full years of work and dedication – “that’s the one that flipped the switch for us,” Ben says. “Wolves” is out now, to be followed by soon-to-be earworms that transcend time, place, and genre – like “It’ll All Be Alright,” “Glorious,” “Flowers In Your Hair,” and the utterly classic “Adios, Gracias, Goodnight.” Written and produced with close collaborators like poet Catie Trainor, who Ben met at a Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI) writers’ camp in Nashville and now calls “my Bernie Taupin,” the songs brim with promise, Ben’s powerful and emotionally resonant voice and lush, fully realized melodies on total display. On first listen, they’ll feel immediately familiar yet totally singular in the same breath. That’s Ben’s gift – the ability to supersede any one genre or sound, while incorporating elements from across the musical spectrum in one fell swoop.

At the end of the day, Ben is the anchor that grounds his music. There’s vision and direction behind every choice; there’s passion and motivation in every note he sings. Armed with a talent beyond measure and a dream of sharing it with the world, Ben Goldsmith is an artist whose journey you won’t want to be late for.

Raised in the small town of Anacortes, Washington, Joey Hendricks discovered country music against all geographical odds. Far away from Music Row, in a region famous for its indie rock and grunge scenes, he came across the music of Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, and Willie Nelson when he started songwriting and fell in love with the genre. As he puts it, after that, “all signs started pointing to Nashville.”

A few years after graduating high school, having relocated to Phoenix, Arizona, where he saved up $3000 from a weekly solo performing gig at a local bar, Hendricks finally made the move to Music City. He rented a room just north of downtown in a house of other aspiring musicians who welcomed him into their close-knit group of friends and collaborators.

Hendricks began honing his skills and expanding his network, eventually landing a meeting with Parallel Entertainment, a publishing company headed by industry veteran Tim Hunze. After hearing the newcomer play five original songs live in the Parallel office, Hunze offered him a music publishing deal on the spot.

At the time, despite his skill as a performer, Hendricks was committed to the songwriter’s path, more comfortable with a pen and paper than a mic and backing band — but with Hunze’s encouragement, in late 2019, he made the leap into solo artistry by cutting a few of his own songs and solidifying his diverse country sound.

“From that moment on, the whole thing kind of shifted,” Hendricks says of starting his artist career. “I realized how fortunate I am, because I wasn’t seeking it out. It really just happened organically.”

Heavily inspired by generational songwriters like Neil Young and John Mayer, Hendricks’ music has a timeless quality; touching on heartland rock themes like childhood nostalgia and sublime restlessness while steeped in country storytelling tradition. With “Yours or Mine,” he wonders aloud, over an upbeat, plaintive country track, whether he or another will be the first to manifest their shared feelings. In “Going Home,” he reflects on the emotions and memories spawned by a road trip back home.

“There’s a theme of almost trying to escape what I’m going through in the moment,” Hendricks says of the songs. “I think a lot of those emotions were definitely present in the process of making these.”