After watching a songwriter’s showcase at The Bitter End, the legendary NYC night club made famous by Bob Dylan, journalist Samantha Kaufman once wrote the following about James Bennett, “With a brief introduction of the two men accompanying him Bennett broke into a song oozing with immediate southern feel.
Although he denied any writing of country music it was almost as if the tone of his voice desired it as lyrics of reaching for dreams and fighting through tears filled the room.
Bennett certainly didn’t look like any cowboy I’ve ever seen sporting ripped, dark jeans and a typical blue t-shirt but it was apparent that actively writing in Nashville got to him whether he liked it or not.
As the night continued, Bennett opened his heart with honest songs of heartbreak and the journey it takes to get through it.
By the end of the set, he created such a genuine connection with the audience you left not only with a view of his music but of his heart.”
Since then, Bennett’s songwriting approach and style remains the same blend of lyric-based, adult contemporary music that can’t deny a subtle country music influence.
His song “Clicks” tells a story about effortlessly falling in love. Bennett’s favorite music accomplishments as a singer songwriter have been winning the John Lennon Award and Grand Prize for the Country Music Genre in the 2012 John Lennon Songwriting Contest and singing “I Can Only Imagine” by MercyMe in the grand finale showcase at the Disney World American Idol Experience in 2014.
