Benjamin Tod, one of the most underrated artists in country music for over a decade at this point, has made a big announcement regarding the status of his career.
The Lost Dog Street Band frontman and founding member, along with his wife Ashley Mae, has been a mainstay in the Appalachian music scene over the last decade and has built a reputation as one of the most authentic songwriters in the business.
Between LDSB and his solo work, Tod has already released nine albums since 2011 and announced last week that his 3rd solo album Songs I Swore I’d Never Sing will hit streaming platforms September 23rd. With all of this music, Tod has amassed an impressive catalog of music to show for all of his hard work over the years.
Tod’s music is often introspective and deals with heavy subject matter such as addiction and relationships, among other topics.
A man who has become increasingly self aware and reflective over the years, Tod took to Instagram on June 21st to update his fans on the status of his career.
“One of the fears of every artist I know is becoming irrelevant or forgotten. We pursue touring, recording, interviews, photo shoots and nowadays social media posts to assert ourselves with the real estate of attention.
I feel a deep change in my life and in my soul the past few months that is eating me from the inside out. The older I get the more I care about my community and my family and the less I care about performing and interacting with the larger world. There are a lot of reasons for this change in my priorities and I will talk about them down the line.
All of that being said, after 2022 I will be taking a step away from touring and being a public figure in the capacity I have been. I will continue to write, make music videos and give my 2 cents from time to time, but I have to take a step back and decide what the next step is for me as an individual and as a leader.”
While it is sad from a fan standpoint to hear Tod will be taking a step back and slowing down his music career, you have to respect a man for having his priorities straight and for having the courage to act on them.
The good news, though, as he mentioned, is that he will continue to write and release music in some capacity. He continued on Instagram to give some more insight into what the future looks like:
“The first goal I want to achieve with this change is to begin writing my memoirs. There are mountains of unbelievable stories from years on the railroad that I fear is disappearing with every old friend that passes. It is vitally important to me that the history of the last generation of hobos before smart phones and social media gets told correctly.
The tours with [Lost Dog Street Band] coming up this summer and ones currently unannounced for the fall in the North East will be the last shows I play for a long time. One of my intentions in saying all of this is to give fair warning that this is it for a while, so come on out if you can.
Thank you for your time. None of us have a lot of it and I am honored to be seen for who I am by you.”
As much as I would love for Tod and LDSB to keep touring and releasing music at the rate they have over the years, I have to say I am pretty stoked for these memoirs.
Tod has lived a pretty crazy life playing music and drifting across the country, and with as good of a writer as he is, a memoir on the matter is sure to be a must read.
If you haven’t seen Lost Dog Street Band yet, or have and would like to see them again, you better get on it. I am glad he gave the warning so that I can make sure to catch one of these last shows, and you should do the same.
In true outlaw fashion, Tod signed the caption off with the Ain’t Living Long Like This hashtag, presumably an ode to the Rodney Crowell song that was recorded by Gary Stewart, Emmylou Harris, and Waylon Jennings in the 1970s.
“I looked for trouble and I found it, son
Straight down the barrel of a lawman’s gun
I tried to run but I don’t think I can
You make one move and you’re a dead man, friend
Ain’t living long like this
Can’t live at all like this, can I baby?”
Such an announcement also makes the lyrics to his spectacular song “September Doves” carry a little more weight…
“We could pick any old road and start again
Hell, we could change our names and try to forget
Lord knows I’ll be sorry when it’s done
But circumstances shot us down like September doves
Circumstances shot us down like September doves”
On behalf of all of his fans, we wish Benjamin Tod good luck with this next phase in his career.
