Live and Local - Ben Wenk

If I may say something about myself that borders on being positive, I will say that I’m very curious and capable of collecting information on topics that interest me. The unfortunate part is I often collect a lot of information and experience, but don’t end up doing much with it.

Ben Wenk and I share that drive of curiosity and wanting to collect as much information and experience as we can or topics that we have a passion for. Where we diverge is in his follow-through. Often, people like me just end up with really heavy bags of figurative tools that we carry around. If you give Ben a tool to put in his bag, he’s damn well doing to use it. And, in my experience, we’re all the better for it.

Seeing Ben perform, which is something I try to do whenever the opportunity presents itself, I’m struck by three things. First is most obvious…he’s in incredibly talented performer…playing the guitar (or bass, or mandolin…there are probably many other instruments that I haven’t actually seen him play) and singing, he’s engaging and interactive and you can’t wait to see what he’s doing next…his originals are interesting and fun (he collaborates some with Rob Leib, who is a driving force with Guernsey Beat Records along with Ben), and he has a seemingly endless catalog in his head for cover songs from all different times and styles and genres of music…a human juke box.

Which leads me to the second thing you realize. Ben’s knowledge of music is capacious…but that’s just an example of how he is truly a “maker”. He engages with a passion and creativity that moves his craft forward  as a matter of course. He has the same broad and deep knowledge of farming and cider making. As a result of his knowledge and remarkable ability to engage, he moves forward the cidermaking artisan community. He also engages broadly with local craft beer makers and creates associations with them, tapping their beers while they bring on his ciders for the betterment of both places, etc.

He’s also been a massive driving force in the cultivation and support of the local music scene. As a somewhat regular patron at Ploughman, I can tell you that Ben and Rob book music on their regular nights (Thursday through Sunday with open mic on Wednesdays) even at times when it probably makes no sense to do so in terms of return on investment… many nights in the first couple of months of the year when I’m treated with a concert with just myself and the bartender in the audience.

He also lends his own resources and time, as well as those of Ploughman and Guernsey Beat to countless charitable events and organizations. I won’t try to list them all here, because he wouldn’t want me to. He does it because it’s just what he does whenever there is help that’s within his ability to provide. That approach exudes from him whenever you’re around him, and it pervades in his musical work as well as the farm and taprooms. Do what you do as well as you can, and make things around you better whenever you can, because that’s what we’re here for. It’s not conventional, or common. It makes him formidable and rare; what makes him such a valuable resource and element of the community are his own choices.   

Which leads me to the third thing, which I can attest to in the first person and as an observer. I called Ben formidable, and I meant it. When I first met him, I found him rather intimidating because of his boundless energy, the way he always seemed to be actively doing three things at once and yet seemed relaxed, self possessed, and composed at the same time. I mean, what do you do with someone like that?

All of those things are true…but seeing him perform and being lucky enough to have gotten to know Ben a bit more, I realize that what drives it all is not a singleminded hyper perfectionist drive to go full-on alpha rockstar and business master and crusher of foes. Quite the opposite, really.

The reason you enjoy listening the Knuckledraggers songs on Spotify, and seeing Ben perform live isn’t because of the artistry and professionalism of his craft (though there is that), but…well, just watch him some time. It’s pure joy. He’s not just good at what he does, he loves it. That’s why he’ll play for three hours straight without a break, or he’ll do events at Ploughman with an artisan scrapple maker. It’s because he’s doing what he loves, and what’s better than being an audience to that, in any medium?

But it’s much better than that, in Ben’s case. Because you’re not just an audience…he brings you in. He wants to show you something that he thinks is cool, because he thinks you might dig it too. He will sit and talk to me about music or cooking, or beer and cider making…all subject he’s probably forgotten more about just this morning than I entirely know… just because we share love for those things, and he wants to learn and share and make it better.

In the few years I’ve known him, Ben has introduced me to the world of cider and hosted an event where I learned about the American experience and history of cider. He’s introduced me to several incredible musicians in addition to himself and the draggers, and (you can take this as a plus or a minus, as you wish), he’s pretty directly responsible for the Flatted Fifth and all the stuff I’ve written there in the last 8 months or so. In return, I’ve bored the shit out of him, talking about Harry chapin and whining about a cocktail that I want him to bring back to Ploughman.

I am clearly the one who benefits from the acquaintance.

… it’s the Yardbird. That’s the cocktail I want back. Feel free to mention it to Ben, and Courtney, and Gabe. Often as you can…