Interview by Todd Matthews

Monday nights at St.Clouds, located in Seattle's Madrona Park neighborhood, are raucous and rowdy thanks to honky-tonk singer/songwriter Tom Bennett and his Rolling Blackouts. The neighborhood bistro transforms itself into a roadhouse of sorts, as the veteran frontman takes to the stage a cache of gifted and skilled musicians. "I look at it as though we have two Friday nights a week playing at St. Clouds," says Bennett. "It sure feels that way on Monday nights." I recently sat down with Bennett to discuss his songwriting endeavors, some misconceptions about honky-tonk music, and his forthcoming album.

TODD MATTHEWS: When people think of honky-tonk music, they think of songs like, 'If The Phone Doesn't Ring, You'll Know It's Me.'

TOM BENNETT: [laughing]. Right. Or, 'If I'd Shot You When I Wanted, I Would Have Been Out By Now.'

TODD MATTHEWS: [laughing]. Exactly. Honky-tonk songs strike me as fun, but also sort of sad and pathetic. Have you written any songs like that?

TOM BENNETT: It's hard being a cowboy musician from Mercer Island. [laughing]. I joke about growing up in the roadhouses and honky-tonks of Mercer Island. I think the style of the music has a flair for being a little bit hokey. Some of the songs I've written include, 'She's Your Problem Now.' I came up with a song called, 'Save You The Trouble,' which is about dating two people at the same time. I wrote a song while in France called 'Yank's Blues.' It's all about how the French hate Americans, but they love Johnny Cash. I was hitchhiking around France. Wherever I would go: I might be a Yankee, but they love Johnny Cash. So I find that flavor of honky-tonk music is very well accepted all over the place. Honky-tonk –– and early country music –– is very universal. I think that's what makes it so well accepted globally. And that's what makes it so well accepted here at St. Clouds. It has a certain feel and familiarity to it that makes it just easy to put it all together.

Tom Bennett
+ + photo courtesy Tom Bennett + +

TODD MATTHEWS: Is there a distinct difference between honky-tonk music and country music?

TOM BENNETT: I think nowadays, to say you are into country music puts you into the same ballpark as Garth Brooks and some of the newer country guys. That's really not what we are looking for. We are looking for the roots, American-style. Merle Haggard. Johnny Cash. Hank Williams. I would say that honky-tonk is more of a feel. It's a roadhouse sound. It's got a bit more guts. A bit more grit.

TODD MATTHEWS: How did you get started performing at St. Clouds with The Rolling Blackouts?

TOM BENNETT: We formed this group as a way to play some of our original music –– Stuff we didn't get to play in other bands. Essentially, it's unrehearsed. We do a minimum amount of rehearsal, usually for about an hour ahead of time. We bring the songs here and we all love it. That's all it takes. A little bit of an explanation of how the song goes. I like to turn around to the drummer and say, "Alright, this one is 'Wine Me Up' in the key of C, and make it swing." And off we go. There are other stages where the big lights are on you, there's a big PA system, and the crowd has paid a cover charge –– but here we just have a loose feel.

TODD MATTHEWS: Is honky-tonk music a blues-based sort of music?

TOM BENNETT: It's a similar structure. But it's a different groove. They both come from the same place: heartache. I'll tell you a little bit about how I started listening to this music. Hank Williams was kind of an influence on me, much like a lot of rock and roll guys started listening to rock and roll by playing Chuck Berry or The Ramones or AC/DC. It was a style of music that was just a couple of chords, and you gave it everything you got. Hank Williams, to me, much like Chuck Berry, could tell a story with three chords. That was something that I could associate with. I like telling a story and giving something that people can relate to. You can be from Mercer Island and still write a story about being down and out . . . everybody has been down and out. It doesn't really matter where you are from.

TODD MATTHEWS: Tell me a little about the album you recently recorded.

TOM BENNETT: I hired producer Dave Keenan to take leadership of the project. I hired him to make me sound like the musical genius I think I am. He's a very good diplomat, and he speaks the musical language –– something I couldn't do. That allowed me to concentrate on just getting my best performance across, as opposed to me telling people how I want them to be. It was great. I also worked with Garey Shelton at Garey Shelton Studios. Garey and Dave are old friends. Garey said something great about making music. He said, 'It's the noblest profession on earth. Someday we will all be saints.' It takes stepping away from your everyday life to make something that is that real. It's like a photo album. It's something that's now and in place, but it's just like memories in a photo album. That's something that this record is for me.

Tom Bennett and The Rolling Blackouts perform live every Monday night (8:30 p.m. – 11:30 p.m. –– no cover charge) at St. Clouds / 1131 34th Avenue / Seattle, WA 98122 / Phone: (206) 726–1522.

This article originally appeared in The Tablet