Ben Prestage at the Country Store

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SPECIAL THANKS go out to
"BluesGirl," KELLI TOME,
for the use of her pics from this show.

And don't forget to check out Kelli's FULL MOON BLUES website for news on what's hot in the tri-state's Blues Music scene! Remember, if you sign up for her email notification list you'll NEVER miss a great gig! So do it TODAY!

On July 15th at The Country Store, St. Georges, DE
~ It was One of the FINEST SHOWS we've EVER Hosted!! ~
BEN PRESTAGE is nothing short of a Musical Phenomenon!!
He brought 6 types of Guitars, a Diddly-Bow Fiddle, a box of harmonicas and a Set of Drums
and proceeded to set them ALL on FIRE with his masterful musicianship!

Ben Prestage’s musical background began before he was born... even before his parents were born. Ben’s great-grandmother was a Vaudeville musican who toured with Al Jolson and also participated in medicine shows. Her daughter was a Boogie-Woogie pianist and painter who used to play for Ben when he was coming up. On the other side of the family tree, his grandfather, who was a Mississippi sharecropper turned Ben onto the sounds and culture of Mississippi and Blues in general.

“When my father was growing up in Mississippi,” states Ben, “ they never had running water and the only electricity was one light bulb that hung from the ceiling, but they had it better than some of their neighbors, because they didn’t have dirt floors. I grew up in rural Florida, on a 14-mile-long dirt road, near the headwaters of the Everglades. It was 7 miles either direction to the nearest paved road, and when you got to pavement, you still weren't near a town. It was panther, gator, and cottonmouth country. Out there, there was only one kind of music in the house. Whether it was being played on an instrument, or on a recording, it was Blues."

“One day though, in my early teens, I went to help a neighbor build a chicken-coop on his property. When we went inside to eat lunch, I asked him about a banjo I saw in the corner. He picked it up and I heard Bluegrass music for the first time. He was from a musical family and learned old-time banjo from his father from the South Ohio/North Kentucky hills. He lived half a mile away, but it was so quiet out there, you could hear that banjo all the way to my house, if he was on his porch and I was on mine.. He made homemede wine with my dad and when he’d come over, he’d bring his banjo and show me how to pick with my fingers instead of a plectrum.”

Later while living in Memphis, Prestage became a busker (street performer) on historic Beale Street. This is where he perfected his drum-kit. "I played out there a few times with nothing but a guitar and my voice. Once people heard me they liked it, but it was hard to get them on my side of the street with all the other music going on down there. There were some other guys out there who played drums with their feet, and they always got people's attention. I started playing drums with my feet as an attention grabber but soon found out that the drums played with foot pedals actually enhaced my music dramatically. Not only were people listening and buyin' discs, they were now dancing and hollerin' to boot. Now I am to the point where, if you close your eyes, you would think there was a professional drummer with a full-size drumkit behind me. I learned alot from the guys I shared the street with, including John Lowe, (inventor of the Lowebow, a type of diddley-bow that I play), Robert Belfour, and Richard Johnston."

Ben returned to Memphis over the next few years for the International Blues Challenge (the world's largest gathering of Blues musicians) and within three consecutive years took he 4th, 3rd, and 2nd place. He is also the only two-time recipient of the Lyon/Pitchford Award for "Best Diddley-Bow Player." Ben's interesting approach to instrumentation, (fingerstyle guitar, harmonica, banjo, lap-steel, fiddle, resonator guitar, foot-drums, vocals, and his award-winning original songwriting (recipient of "The Most Unique Performer" at "The Song- writers' Showcase of America") has earned him invitations to perform across North America, Europe, and as far as North Africa. All awards aside, he has proven himself, through his live performances, to be the future of American Blues, Roots Music, Americana and is one of today’s most talented outsiders.

Reviews for Ben Prestage

Here's just a few
of the raving reviews
the "one-man-band,"
Ben Prestage
has received

“Skim Ben’s bio and you can practically hear the hands of a thousand marketing executives rub together... his one man, beat-boxing, junk-shop vibe is so achingly ‘now’ that it could have been brainstormed by Saatchi & Saatchi.... Apt in the best possible way...earthy, unfussy energy, manic musicality, and the taste of dirt and whisky.”

- Classic Rock magazine

“I have never seen a finger picking right hand fly so fast with so much perfection and articulation then I did last night...”

- Blues Alliance of the Treasure Coast

“First up on stage was a grisly bearded guy with a train engineer’s cap who appeared to be doing a solo acoustic set. Yeah, not so much. This phenomenally talented dude was Ben Prestage, a bona-fide one-man-band! The sound that came from the stage was a swampy, whisky-soaked Tennessee blues that made you stomp your foot and slap your leg…By the time he brandished his cigar box-broom handle guitar I was smitten. I’m not kidding when I say this guy could play the drums with his feet as good as I can with all my limbs. I was left with no choice but to purchase both his albums and hope it was half the experience seeing him live was. I felt really sorry for the headlining band because no matter how awesome you are, it is nearly impossible to follow an act like Ben’s.”

- Jack’s Jax magazine

“A big hit of the night was Ben Prestage. He has gone from a busker on Beale Street in Memphis, Tennessee, to being played regularly on XM Radio. Prestage played as a one-man-band, feet operating drums and cymbals. His blues had all the grit and funk of the South, with surprising twists. As a guitarist he could go from Piedmont Ragtime style to something akin to the baroque playing of Leo Kottke, all while singing of fishing, drinking and his taste in women. Prestage then pulled out his secret weapon, a homemade guitar with a cigar box body, two broomsticks for a neck, and bass and guitar strings run through separate channels. He laid down an irresistible and raw electric boogie that brought the audience to its feet. It was a devilish sound from Prestage.”

- Kalamazoo Gazette

“Ben Prestage stomped and picked his way through a very enjoyable set of unfurnished porch blues. His recordings tend to play a bit nice but his live performance was much more ruggedly interesting, its seams giving the music better character lines. His cigar box instrument was remarkably rich in tone and expression despite having only three guitar strings and one bass string…”

- Orlando City Beat

“He...dives into the backwater swamp-funk that you might expect from a kid with roots in Mississippi and Central Florida, [and] creates his own rhythms, playing the drums and banjo at the same time. He's got the gritty backwoods appeal that blues lovers, well, love. So check him out, and see what blues heritage looks like up close and personal.”

- Miami Newtimes

"Prestage has made a reputation on lighting things up on stage, so those with the preconception that the blues are dull are sure to be blown away. Armed with a host of homemade guitars, a foot operated drum set, and a distinctive southern growl, he blasts an electrified mix of swamp and delta blues."

- Artvoice magazine

“He's got the guitar and drums locked into his own internal clock.”

- Charlotte Observer