Ben Ricketts, a name you’ve likely seen frequently playing in town, has finished his latest album Here, Asleep. This album is a much quieter, softer approach than previous releases.
“I kinda hit a wall, I was getting tired of using [pre recorded backing] tracks” said Ricketts. “I decided I was going to do an album with just guitar and what I’ve been doing with samples.”
The change in sound was largely guided by Ricketts’ experimentation with his live setup.
“It was the first time that the live layout formed the record more than anything,” said Ricketts. “I wanted to do something that is inherently just acoustic guitar and samples…I got tired of using the same basic set up for four years.”
Though the album was meant to be released in September, Ricketts had to cancel his album release show at The Wall. He listened to the album again roughly a week later and decided to tinker some more. This lead to several redrafts and scrapping of several albums at various stages of completion.
“In some cases I was five or six songs in,” said Ricketts.
On a technical side, Here, Asleep, features the cleanest mix of any album Ricketts has released.
“I learned about filtering a lot more. I sent a song from the Drew Danburry & Ben Ricketts EP to Bronson at Dial Back and he gave me some tips” said Ricketts. “I’m really proud of those older records where it’s just a brick wall of sound, but with this time around I was focusing a lot more on making things fit.”
Ricketts will be playing an album release show at emerging DIY-venue Hum + Howl located in Water Valley above BTC Grocery on March 4. The show will be entirely acoustic and feature Austin Sanders as the opening performance. Here, Asleep will be available online at most major distributors. Physical copies of the album can be purchased as a CD or cassette tape. 
