1/26/07, 5:53 pm EST

Assignment Three Finalist: Amy Wagner on Benjy Ferree (New York City)

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Note: This is not an official Rolling Stone article. What follows is a submission to the “I’m From Rolling Stone” writing competition.

by Amy Wagner
Age: 30

The first time I saw Washington, D.C. native Benjy Ferree, he was strumming out his folky tunes solo in a Brooklyn coffee house cum record shop in the middle of the afternoon during the CMJ Music Marathon. He put on a polite performance - all milk and cream, not a hint of espresso.

That was a few months ago . . .

The man who showed up to play for a buzzing crowd at hole-in-the-wall club Tonic in New York City had undergone such a radical switcheroo that one of Montel Williams on- the-spot DNA tests might have been in order. This time around singer/songwriter Ferree brought along a four piece band and a hot-blooded performance that cozied right up to the venue’s maroon glow. In fact, he put on such an aggressive folk rock performance (heavy on the “rock”) that any thoughts except for how exciting it was to watch raw talent vanished.

Gifted with a set of solid songs from his debut disc Leaving the Nest, the scruffy singer kicked out an electric show that put the chameleon-like aspect of his music to good use. “In the Countryside” is a toe tapper that clippity clops along like The Beatles “When I’m Sixty-Four”. But just when you were getting used to folk hippie Ferree and his shout outs of “Peace, baby!”, the singer would bend a dark chord and launch into heavy rockers like “Dog Killers!”

Decked out in a red sweatshirt with a tan fisherman’s hat pulled low over his eyes and jeans with five inch cuffs, Benjy Ferree looked like the kind of guy that you would expect to see playing for the local bait and tackle club - not downtown hipsters! But you know what they say about books, covers and judging.