Ben Livingston and The "That's what she said!" Band

Trust Your Equipment (Greatest Hits Volume II) (eigen beheer) van Ben Livingston wordt van harte aanbevolen door Terry Allen. En dat is echt niet alleen maar omdat Livingston net als Allen muziek combineert met een succesvolle loopbaan in de beeldende kunst. In veel meer opzichten zijn de twee gelijkgestemde zielen. Livingston komt weliswaar niet uit Lubbock, maar past wel helemaal in het rijtje bijzondere artiesten uit die stad als Terry Allen, Butch Hancock, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Joe Ely, Cary Swinney en Legendary Stardust Cowboy. Dat betekent: intellectueel, eigenzinnig, progressief, over de grenzen heen kijkend en bij tijden knotsgek. Die eigenschappen zijn allemaal van toepassing op Trust Your Equipment. Dat begint al direct met de titelsong waarmee het album opent. Alsof Nina Hagen het startsein geeft, waarna blazers losbreken en een dreigende song volgt. In Fleming Prairie zit een fraaie verwijzing naar de observatie over een tuna fish can van Butch Hancock (wie op zo’n blikje gaat staan in West Texas ziet honderd mijlen ver). Het nummer is een ode aan (de ontdekking van) kleuren. Livingston is uitvinder van een oneindig fosforescerend kleurenpalet in het neon waar hij als kunstenaar mee werkt. Somewhere Down This Road is een nummer dat herinnert aan Layla And Other Assorted Love Songs van Derek and the Dominoes. It’s All Water is fraai singer-songwriter-werk over zen meditation and a healing massage en nog veel meer. Golfers Are Fat gaat over shopping malls (they’re fun), maar is natuurlijk in wezen zeer kritisch. Het begint als iets van Holy Modal Rounders en eindigt in een kakafonie van rare fluitjes en percussie. Zo zijn er meer nummers vol vreemde geluiden. Livingston (vocals including Texan style & voice characters) haalt met Aziatisch klinkende stemmen herinneringen op aan de tijd dat hij in Nepal vertoefde. Smart Fools From Art School is western swing voor hippies met gejodel dat uitmondt in een schietpartij en algehele hilariteit als in een soort slapstickwestern. Alsof dat allemaal nog niet genoeg is, is er als extra krent in de pap het meesterlijke duivelse vioolspel van Richard Bowden. Redenen genoeg voor aanschaf? Verkrijgbaar bij CD Baby. - AltCountry.nl (The Netherlands)

Known internationally as a neon-light sculptor, Ben Livingston won a fellowship with the National Endowment for the Arts for his discovery/invention of the infinite phosphorescent color palette. Trust Your Equipment is almost equally inventive. "Golfers Are Fat" and "Smart Fools From Art School" are Zappa-esque social commentary, but some of his observations are pure Texas poetry. The essence of Livingston's musical vision is lighthearted – he even attempts Tuvan throat singing on a couple of tracks – but when he gets serious as he does on the luminescent "It's All Water," he recalls James McMurtry with an extra twist of the knife. From blues-rock fiddler "Evil Spirits" to the soundscape jam of "11:11 Floor Elevator," Livingston's all over the place musically, but Trust Your Equipment marks him a true original.
- The Austin Chronicle

Ben Livingston claims the title of story and song maker. Breaking apart the whole is the territory where Ben is king. His characters come to life in the songs found within ‘Trust Your Equipment’. In “Fleming Prairie”, the narrator tells the tale of Madeline O’Connor, turning the tables from her art into a more personal tale of writing a letter, the back story has the narrators’ eye capturing what Madeline brings into her painting, realizing that without Madeline tutoring, his eyes could look deeper and find more to see. That template moves through Ben Livingston’s writing. The plots and characters intertwine within the opening and closing riffs and chords. The winding twists and turns of story line and characters all manage to form into a solid unit. He has opinions.....as a stripped down arrangement opens “Golfers Are Fat”, Ben gives a bird’s eye view of how he perceives the sportsmen. School as an option, and those that pick that path, are open season on “Smart Fools From Art Schools” while “Somewhere Down the Road” showcases the results of decisions.
Ben Livingston is an art multi-tasker. He is internationally known for his work as a neon sculptor, winning a fellowship with the National Endowment for the Arts with his discovery/invention of the infinite phosphorescent color palette. Ben draws from as wide a range in the use of diverse styles on ‘Trust Your Equipment’. A blues crawl anchors “Evil Spirits”, a sole acoustic guitar complements the words and voice in “It’s All Water”, as a full on rock show explodes in and around the arrangement on “Walking to San Antonio”. The styles, characters and delivery may differ but like other forms of art, the artists brand is alive and well within each of his creations.
- The Alternative Root Magazine

By TIM DELANEY

tdelaney@vicad.com

Ben Livingston moved across the stage toward the microphone at Austin's seasoned Continental Club. He shouldered his Gretch guitar and began to sing.

But Livingston, a Victoria native, is known more for his neon art, having once won a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship that he used to search for phosphors in Nepal.

That fellowship was more than 15 years ago. "Been dormant" all that time, he said, "meditating." How in the world did an internationally known neon artist get a stage at the Continental Club in the middle of the South by Southwest festival, where more than 1,500 bands were playing in Austin?

Helps to know the club's owner, Steve Wertheimer, who Livingston said is a good friend from way back.

"She got me to look a little deeper.," he sang in front of his band - the That's What She Said Boys - he'd assembled for his first art exhibit in all those years. The song was a dedication to the late Madeline O'Connor of Victoria, an accomplished artist who inspired and served as a mentor to Livingston.

All of the 11 original songs Livingston sang thematically connected to his life, his family, his experience and his love.

Livingston said he always wanted to sing and play in a band, so he rounded up some impressive musicians for the gig to present his original songs. The bass player was Bob Livingston (no relation), who once played with Jerry Jeff Walker.

On the walls of the club hung his latest neon works - all tying in to his songs. Vibrant colors emanated in the darkened club as Livingston played his life. One work titled, "Lucky Linda's 40th Orbit" was valued at $18,000.

Livingston said there were two reasons he all of a sudden sprang to life with his art:

"So I'm doing this (neon) demo and I notice a familiar-looking woman in the audience looking at me . Then, a few minutes later during a break, she and her husband appear, both with a huge smile on their faces. She threw her arms around me as she exclaimed loudly, 'Look Bill. He is alive! I told you he wasn't dead!' I thought to myself, 'Jesus! I gotta get out more!'"

And Livingston shared his other reason for the long absence from exhibiting.

"I've been through some changes and ruminating on many levels about things, for reasons that I do and don't know much about," he said.

Livingston compared himself to a tree planted in fertile ground with the advent of spring and blossoming.

"This spring, I am in full bloom just for you," he said to the packed upstairs gallery of the Continental Club on South Congress Street.

Livingston belted out one song after another to the audience's delight. More than a neon artist, he proved he was a talented songwriter and musician.

Between his creative music, he told stories about the works of art on the wall and the people who inspired or commissioned the works. Storytelling, too, is one of his multiple talents.

One neon work was dedicated to his grandfather, MO Simon, who had a department store in downtown Victoria by that name.

Livingston also credited his mother, Polly Lou, Wilbur Collins, the late Simon Michael and others in Victoria for inspiring and influencing his development as an artist.

Although he lives in Austin and keeps a studio there, he said he fondly remembers his times in Victoria. Particularly, he remembered Madeline O'Connor for her keen vision.

".She was a searching vine married to the king. I once saw her reaching for heaven through the way that she looked at things," he sang from the song, "Fleming Prairie."

Livingston said he accomplished his immediate goal: "One thing led to another, and I found myself back in the glass shop, and despite my aching joints and crappy vision, I am creating the most interesting, intricate and beautiful work I have ever produced."

What's next? He will show his work at the Corning Museum of Glass in New York on June 11-13. The exhibit will be the Glass Art Society's 39th Annual Conference on local inspiration and global innovation.

And he said he's convinced he will continue working with the band in house concerts. Already, the first offer to present a concert has been made by Pebbles Wadsworth, former director of the Performing Arts Center at the University of Texas.

"He is a fabulous artist," Pebbles said.

Livingston said the band's focus would be "an entertaining and educational spin on heightening awareness of the spirit of creativity through art and music." - Victoria Advocate