Who is Uncle Ben’s Remedy

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Uncle Ben’s Remedy is a little band from Western NY

Interview conducted on December 09, 2018

By Daniel Locke

“These are story songs. Songs about the people we grew up with; grew together with and grew apart from. This music is medicine.”

Roots grow deep in fertile soil. The sound of Uncle Ben’s Remedy is rooted in the small towns of western New York, where community still matters and music is a part of every event. The boys learned to play and sing in this small town atmosphere, giving their music the honest, back porch feel of the country music they love. Uncle Ben’s Remedy is Ben Westlund, Harmony Griffin, Shawn Huestis, Brendan O’Connor and Jimmy Royce, playing all sorts of traditional and rock n’ roll instruments and stomping the floors; all while singing their hearts out in service to the song.

Available on iTunes and Google Play and available for streaming on RDIO, Spotify and other outlets, the band released their debut EP “Yesterday’s Clothes” in 2015 and followed by releasing their full length album, “Not Far From the Tree” in April of 2016. Spurred on by local airplay of their single “Fire in the Field” on Buffalo’s Country, Classic Rock, and Alternative stations, UBR quickly sold the first 2500 copies of their record out of their converted school bus, playing every small town and honky-tonk they could find.

How did you get Uncle Ben’s Remedy started?

Growing up in the small town of Versailles, Ben, Harmony, and Jim had been playing together in bands since the 80s. After their most recent project Junk button was put on hold in the Spring of 2011, they decided to take a left turn and pay homage to the music they heard their dads playing in clubs and around campfires. They brought in Ben’s friend and coworker Shawn, a keyboard player (something they’d never had before), and Shawn brought in Tim Cudney who they knew as an upright bass player–somethingthat was going to be a must for this new outfit.

How did you get the band’s name?

UBR formed when Mumford and Son, Old Crow Medicine Show, and the Avett Brothers were breaking, and we were very interested in the vibe that was happening surrounding the roots movement. One day Tim came into practice with the name–explaining the image of anold-timer snake oil salesman traveling the country in a covered wagon–and it stuck, Ben never wanted a band named for him, and at the time he wasn’t even an uncle, but we had nothing better (we played our first show as the Nightcrawlers or Porchclimbers or something like that). Since Tim left the band and has since passed, we will always considerthe name a respectful nod to him.

How do you define your sound?

We’ve described our sound as an campfire sing-a-long with the energy of a rock and roll show. I’m not sure if that does much to encapsulate the sound, but we’d all agree it catches the vibe of what we do.

Shawn, what instruments do you play?

I was trained as a band director, so I can play Mary Had A Little Lamb on just about anything, but for the show, I stick with mainly Keys, accordion, trombone, trumpet, fife, slide whistle, washboard, vibrable, and Autoharp until they catch me and make me put it away. I am collecting a treasure trove of obnoxious instruments that the rest of the guys just keep making me put away.

Your band is from Western NY. How often you check out live music in Buffalo and and what clubs do you go see the music in and why?

We go out to see live music every chance we get; which of course is hard because we are also playing every chance we get. Buffalo gets some great acts coming through and we are lucky to open for some of them at places like the Tralfamador, Sportsmen’s Tavern, and the Rec Room. These are the places that host the most genuine rock and Americana music that hits close to our souls.

You travel in a converted school bus. What is the story behind that and it is a bluebird bus?

It’s actually an old Ford 2500 prison bus. Before us it was owned by a grape farmer who used it to keep the migrant workers warm in the cold spring and fall months while they were out in the field tying the vines to the wire. When we got it, we took out the seats, built a cage in the back for the gear, found a couch that fit within an inch and a half of the walls, then built bench seats and cup holders, of course. We call it Castle Grayskull because we are old and grew up in the 80s.

What are some of the highlights in your band career?

This is a question for all of us to answer–there have been many many great times, from opening up for Cake and 12 other bands on the Buffalo Waterfront to winning an original music competition which funded our second album. I think I would have total agreement that our tour last summer was a high point in our collective time together. Seven adult men in a bus together for an extended time can be , minefields, but it became one of the best experiences of our musical careers.

Since you are from Western NY, I am going to name some bands from that area. Tell me in a few words about each of the bands.

Mark Freeland

Haven’t had a chance to see him live.

The Goo Goo Dolls

Robbie Takac of the Goos has been a tremendous ally for us and the arts as a whole in WNY. We’ve recorded all three of our albums at his place–GCR Studios–and he co-founded a charitable organization in Buffalo called MUSIC IS ART which does so much for keeping alive the visual and performing media in this area.

Cannibal Corpse

Jim: A Death metal band from the 90s, I think. We haven’t run into them yet, but imagine it would be a great show!

Brian McKnight

He’s had a long and fascinating adventure in Rand B. I Would love to run into him and ask him about his first days with Motown.

Gym Class Heroes

Harmony: Gym class used to play BJs [a small music venue in Fredonia NY] when I lived above thebar. Real fun.

MOE

I remember hearing and seeing MOE in college in the 1990s. To have that longevity is always impressive.

Willie Nile

Great rocker. He still plays through the area. I hope we can hook up with a show at some point.

The Bloody Hollies

Punk band from Buffalo, we don’t hear much about them around here lately—the last show they did in town to my knowledge was at Buffalo Riverworks (another great buffalo music venue) last July, but we’d love to catch a show when possible.

Stacy Clark

Her connection with Ani DiFranco and Michael Meldrum of Righteous Babe Records seemed to really springboard her career. I love that she’s pumping out track aftertrack—her productivity is inspiring.

Green Jello (Jelly)

Crazy. We saw them at last year’s MUSIC IS ART Festival–to have that kind of uninhibited anything-goes kind of show is what rock and roll are all about.

Spyro Gyra

Spyro Gyra is a guilty pleasure of mine. Not much is heard of them locally these days,but I personally have a great deal of respect for their musicianship.

Tell me about your live show?

We pour everything we have into our performances; our mottoin regard to them “is leave no stone unturned.” We try to think of anything that will entertain our friends and level up from the last show. While promoting, programming, and executing–well who am I kidding, we do it for us. We do this to entertain ourselves and each other; the beauty is that when we are having fun our friends in the crowd are too. That is the musical experience; no, even more–that is the human experience. That is why we say music is medicine. Whether we are performing one of our tender ballads, Country staplesing–alongs or Harmony is ripping into a Slash guitar riff totally unknown tous, it’s that balance of familiarity and spontaneity that keeps us going, andkeeps our friends showing up to share in it with us.

What song does the crowd enjoy the most?

Man, that is a hard one to answer. We have people come up to tell us their favorite song after the show or yell out a request that they just gotta hear while we’re playing, and it’s always for a different reason. That’s why (after months of deliberation) we happily agreed to name our most recent album “The Things That Bring You Back.” It perfectly describes how both personal and communal music can be. The songs on the album, at least to us, reflect that to a Tee.

I will say, though, that seeing the faces of the people in the crowd when we play the song “All Hat, No Cattle” is a sight to behold. It’s one thing to entertain our friends that know what to expect from us, but when we were on tour playing , strangers who had no expectation of what we do, and we launch into that song–it was the feeling of the roof blowing off–the vibe was tangible.

Your new cd just released last month. Tell me about it?

We had been writing the songs for a while in rehearsal when we booked our first recording date of January 26, 2018. Tracking lasted into mid-May and we got a fair way into editing when we had to go on tour, so production halted. Our original plan of having the new album ontour with us just wasn’t realistic with everything we were putting into it, aswell as trying to honor our other commitments. In late summer we were able to get back to it, finalize the work andeverything that goes along with it–mastering, duplication, artwork–itactually was the smoothest process of any of the albums. Having done it a couple times before helpedus to lay out a workable schedule.

As for the music, it is a compilation of many of the things we have gone through in our lives, individually and collectively, or have see nothers go through in their lives. “Long Line of Fighters” is a song about Ben and Harmony’sgrandmother and grandfather (yes, they’re cousins). “Black Jacket” is a song about getting dressed up again to attend another funeral and all the thoughts that go along with burying a good friend or family member. “Jazz Cigarette“came about purely from our time traveling around together. These are a collection of songs that, while being somewhat different from our last efforts, bring to the table many elements of who we are as musicians and friends. There are many drinking songs on this album, but there are also some reflective moments that we just can’t deny.

You are about to do an NYE show at the Tralf. Are you ready for this show?

Our show on December 29 opening for Driftwood at the Tralf will be a great time. We love playing that room, and we’ve always been lucky to be paired up with some great entertainers. We are certainly ready to tear the place up, but knowing us, we will be rehearsing, advertising and revising the set until the moment we stepon stage, trying to think of everything we can to make the show the best wecan, leaving nothing on the table and no stone unturned.

How do you see your band in five years?

We will still be making music with each other, no doubt. We were asked that question 5 years ago, and here we are, still making fun of each other, still writing music, and still loving what we do, many of us will almost be empty nesters in five years, so with the aid a few more pain relievers, we might be out working even more. Without question, we will still be friends, ragging on each other as much as always, but still enjoying mortar-and-pestling this Cure-for-what-ails-ya called music.