by Sheldon Birnie
Local jack-of-all-trades Ben Wytinck is a busy guy. Between working full-time as a sound technician, playing drums in hard boozing Bad Country and rural wedding-social superstars Arnie, he’s also carving out quite the name for himself as a singer-songwriter to be reckoned with.
“Eventually I’d like to have my music be my business,” he told me over a beer at the ANAF Club 60 the other night. I’ve known Wytinck for a number of years now, since his time in Johnny Upstairs & The Basements back in the ‘Oughts.
Music, as a business, is something Wytinck is rather familiar with. A very young looking 30, Ben’s been playing drums professionally since he was eight years old.
“As a kid, it was a great experience,” he says of his time playing in his father’s country cover band. “If you’re 9 years old and you’re playing in a bar, that has some charm. People were very attentive and a good response.”
Wytinck’s journey to a solo performer has been a long one. Gaining a respect for storytellers like Willie Nelson, Gordon Lightfoot, and Paul Simon from his father’s record collection early on, Ben started writing songs years ago, playing them first around campfires and bottles of booze at parties. As he developed his confidence as a performer, he began to play occasional gigs and open mics, and began recording his tunes.
“It was maybe 6 years from the first song I wrote to when I finished the album,” he says of his debut eponymous disc, released in 2009. The release party for this beauty, which I attended, was held in his brother’s barn outside of Teulon, MB. It was a wild night, full of beautiful tunes and booze crazed high jinx. But before he delved into the album, he “did a bunch of drafts, probably did a whole album in a closet. Very raw, coming up with ideas, working on layering, stuff like that.”
Attention to detail is something you’ll notice not only on W’s recordings, but in the songs themselves. Like those early influences of Nelson, Lightfoot, and Simon, Wytinck’s tunes are each very carefully crafted. Take a listen to “Never to Return Again” or “Cheesy Lines & Dirty Jokes” for prime examples.
Never one to sit and rest on his laurels, Ben W is keeping busy over this mild-winter, playing behind the kit and up front alternately. Come summer, you’ll likely find this troubadour out on the Highway more and more. For now, check him out in the city at Aqua Books February 15, at the Standard Tavern for a singer-songwriter night with Carly Dow, the Revenerend Rambler (and yours truly) February 24. For you fine country folk, Ben’s playing the Lakeview Hotel in Lac du Bonnet February 26. If you’re lucky, he’ll bust out his cover of “Boys in the Bright White Sports Car”