Music

I’m returning to my roots.

From the first time I sang in the church youth choir, to the first time I listened to my dad’s record collection, to the first time I pursed my lips to a flute mouthpiece and whistled, to the first time I sang along to Andrew Lloyd Webber show tunes in my parent’s van, to the first time I got painful finger calluses from strumming an acoustic guitar, to the first “full” song I wrote (“Xavier,” circa age 15), to the first “real” band I formed (Burning Veda, circa 2001), to the first full-length album I recorded with a band (Closer to Home by Irene & Reed, 2009), to my industrial synthpop music project, The Sweetest Condition (2012-2016) — all these experiences were (and some still are) joys I have shared with friends and family. They have molded me into a lifelong music lover, and a girl who likes to dream big….

I write, because that’s what I am driven to do. I love music more than anything, and together, the two—writing and music—make me who I am. On this blog site, you’ll find everything from my original music, to photography and poetry, to personal stories and quips, to an online portfolio of my best and most recent work in the fields of journalism and marketing.

But what I want you to pay most attention to, for the sake of art, is the music. To (hopefully) find some inspiration and to learn a little more about who I really am, click on the links on this site. You’ll be transported to various moments in time over the last few decades of my life, which formed me as a songwriter, as a musician and as a woman.

And if my lyrics and songs touch you or move you in some subtle way, then I’ve done my job. I’ve etched a piece of my own heart into yours.

I’m grateful to currently be the lead vocalist for the Nashville-based industrial band God in Rehab. (Follow us on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram).

If you’d like to find out more about my life as a songwriter, visit Musical Family Tree, an online archive of Midwest musicians. To hear the discography of my music, click on the link and “Continue to Site.” Discogs has additional information about my independent music career.

Thanks for reading, and thanks for listening.
—Leslie I. Benson

Photo by Nikki Arnold

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