The Bells of Rye

HOT columnist Sean O’Shea interviews Steve Bennett, a local songwriter and singer.

Steve plays guitar and dobro and sings at Hastings folk clubs, day centres and private parties. Sean  O’Shea gets Steve’s views on the Hastings music scene, his musical influences and the background to his song The Bells of Rye.

Sean O’Shea: Some people regard Hastings as the musical if not the cultural capital of the South East seaside towns. Do you think this is an exaggeration?

Steve Bennett: I think it probably is an exaggeration; I would say there’s a lot more going on in Brighton, for instance. But I would guess that, per head of population, there’s a lot more in the way of live music in Hastings than in most other towns in Britain. And so many tastes are catered for…as well as rock and covers, there’s folk, jazz, bluegrass, Cajun, choirs, gospel, Morris sides…

I do think it will be a BIG shame if the Council let St. Mary-in-the-Castle go though; it’s such a lovely venue.

Sean O’Shea: Like me you are a migrant to this town. What drew you here?

Steve Bennett: Apologies for the dull answer, but a job brought me here. My first proper ‘career’ job was as a computer programmer at Ashdown House.

Sean O’Shea: What have been some of your main musical influences?

Steve Bennett: Lots! The Incredible String Band, Donovan, Bob Dylan, Paul Simon, Beatles, Fureys, Byrds, Grateful Dead, Jerry Garcia, New Riders Of The Purple Sage, Tim McGraw, John Prine, Jerry Douglas. And my friend Chris Liddiard who runs the White Horse Folk Club at Bodle Street, and who is a wonderful songwriter. I should also add Bob Harris for his Old Grey Whistle Test and for his excellent ongoing Country Music programme on Radio 2. (Thursdays. 7.00pm)

Sean O’Shea: What is your favourite musical instrument?

Steve Bennett: I love the square-neck dobro, but my Weissenborn shades it I think. To me, it has a lovely mellow sound, and it fits into a folk session or an old-time tune better than a dobro. The Weissenborn, by the way, was the forerunner of the Hawaiian guitar, and the design goes back to the 1920s.
You can find a great clip of one being played at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpv52tndGMQ

Sean O’Shea: Is this instrument acquiring a personality and if so how would you describe it?

Steve Bennett: The Weissenborn comes in a case with its own personality! I don’t feel it ‘acquires’ a personality, but I suppose each player modifies that personality to some degree by his choice of tunes, songs, and the style in which he plays it. I have written a tune for both my dobro and my Weissenborn which I feel reflect their personality.

Sean O’Shea: How long do songs take to write?

Steve Bennett: My shortest, I think, was about half an hour; it just came naturally, and it naturally came to a full stop, and there was no need to add more to it.
But it varies considerably; ‘The Bells of Rye’ took a few days, on and off, while other songs can take months of doing a bit, leaving it, coming back to it and so on. It doesn’t bother me too much, as I’ve found that rushing a song can lead to it sounding contrived or unnatural. As long as I remain true to my original idea, that’s fine.

Sean O’Shea: Does the melody or words come first?

Steve Bennett: Usually, it’s the words for me, based on an idea or feeling I have. But sometimes I get a little snatch of melody where I think “I must use that”, and then, if possible, it’s a question of finding a theme or idea which matches that bit of melody. As I write more songs, however, I’m finding that a strong melody is becoming more important.

The Bells of Rye – Steve Bennett 2009

Waves crash round the cliffs of Rye
South, east and west in years gone by
You built your ships for country and for king;
But as the shingle piled high
Left your cliffs and harbour dry
Still the bells of old St. Marys ring.

Chorus
The church bells of St. Marys tower
Ring every quarter of an hour
King Alfred’s ships now just a memory;
Now your streets of cobbled stone
March down the hilltop all alone
Adieu the French, farewell the Sussex sea.

In the church John Wesley stood
But his words of Christian good
Passed the smuggler and the lawman by;
Alongside each smuggling man
The magistrates and clergy stand
To bring the whiskey safely back to Rye.

Chorus

Down the river, a tragedy
The Mary Stanford sailed to sea
A lifeboat tossed upon the stormy foam;
But those brave men never knew
There was no-one to rescue
Seventeen men never made it home.

Chorus

Rye looks down upon the marshes
As the year it gently passes
In tea shops timber-framed in years gone by;
Tourists climb the cobbled stones
For walnut cake and buttered scones
And listen to the old church bells of Rye.

Chorus

Sean O’Shea: What was the background to your song The Bells of Rye?

Steve Bennett: You can hear the song at www.soundcloud.com/1066steve

The background, really, is that I love Rye, especially, perhaps in the autumn or winter when there aren’t so many tourists around. The town oozes history and lovely features, and I hope my song reflects that. Condensing it into four verses was hard; I could easily have written another four verses, and, although I think they would have been interesting, I’d have ended up with a song where people would be asking “How many more blinking verses are there?”

I thought I knew Rye pretty well, but I did some research, got a pile of leaflets and then spent a whole day wandering around Rye, looking at people and places, watching the world go by, soaking up the character of the town, jotting down notes and ideas. And sometime over the following few weeks, I put the song together, trying to keep what ‘worked’ and discarding what didn’t work or was simply too much.

Sean O’Shea: Have you any tips for the aspiring songwriter? I know you are a modest man and that you wouldn’t want to pose as any sort of expert. I also acknowledge that songwriters vary in their approaches with people like Leonard Cohen taking years refining a lyric and Bob Dylan knocking songs off at speed. Where are you in this spectrum?

Steve Bennett: Yes… ‘tips’ does almost assume I’m an ‘expert’, so, perhaps the question would be better phrased “What works for you?”

Perhaps some obvious tips would be to:

1) Always have with you pencil and paper or some sort of electronic device so that you can jot ideas down.

2) Make some song writing time, and try and write somewhere fairly peaceful – and with a clear mind – unless somewhere noisy or a troubled mind are actually the whole point of the song!

Less obviously, perhaps…

3) Don’t rush a song; if it needs time, give it time; it doesn’t have to be written in one go. Don’t force a song; if you’re finding it won’t flow, put it on the back burner and come back to it another time.

4) Get feedback from people who won’t mind telling you the bad as well as the good.

5) Listen to different types of music, even if it’s not ‘home territory’ for you; this should help to make sure your songs don’t get stuck in the same sort of groove.

6) And for me, anyway, try and write songs with a variety of styles, rhythms, emotions and content. Hopefully then, I won’t get associated too closely to a particular genre, and will end up a better songwriter.

As for where I am in the ‘spectrum’… once I’ve made some time for a song and have assembled my notes and a draft structure, I tend to write a song fairly quickly, with just a few tweaks; I don’t think I could spend years refining a lyric. I’m kind of flattered to think anyone would put me in any sort of spectrum together with Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen! 🙂

Sean O’Shea: Thanks for agreeing to be interviewed by Hastings Online Times.

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