Michelle Kaplan

Mississippi Blues

Some might say that Ben Prestage has the
muddy waters of the mighty Mississippi Delta
coursing through his veins in order for him to
suck the pain right out of that guitar and play the
blues the way they were meant to be played — from
the depths of the soul.

It could be genetic, inherited from his sharecropper
grandfather who picked cotton under the hazy
Mississippi sky.

Whatever “it” is, Prestage, 27 years young, has a
much older soul and it makes its presence known
when he plays. The emotion of the music is painted
on the face of his audience, who range in age from
teens to people well in to their sixty’s. They sit at
full attention, drawn to him, coming up to greet him,
to introduce themselves, to talk about music and
shake hands during his breaks.

Not many area musicians can say that they actually
earn a living playing. Most know better than to quit
their day job and make their passion their full time
gig.

“I love to play for people, it makes me happy…I’m
lucky enough that it can be a full time job and I
have the freedom to travel around and meet tons of
people from all over the country…I get to play little
places like this to big blues festivals.”

Tonight Prestage is playing to the hometown crowd
at the Exodus Café in Port St. Lucie, it’s standing
room only and the atmosphere is comfy. The crowd
knows him and he knows his audience.

Sitting up on stage, feet busy keeping time with foot
drums, hands fretting and strumming the guitar, all
of this, while singing with a voice that can break your heart.
This is truly a one-man band. Not bad
for a guy that taught himself guitar while growing
up in a place with no name.

“I lived between Okeechobee and Indiantown, on
14 miles of dirt road.”

The guitar, however, was not his first choice in
instruments.

“I always loved music…I started out playing trum-
pet, but I couldn’t go out on my own playing trum-
pet, I couldn’t sing…so I picked up the guitar and
taught myself.”
Self-education aside, Prestage attended South
Fork High School in West Stuart and Indiantown
Community College on a music scholarship where
he studied jazz.

He later landed in Memphis where Prestage further
honed his skills in a place where some say the
blues were born, Beale Street.

“I decided to move to Memphis in 2003 after meet-
ing a musician named Richard Johnston at a big
Blues Festival in Fort Lauderdale…I heard his set
and was knocked-out. He heard my set and asked
me to come to Memphis to record an album with
him.”

Prestage flew up in December, but the album was
never finished. He stayed in Memphis touring with
Johnston and playing on Beale Street. While living
in Memphis he rented a house, but couldn’t afford
gas or electricity.

“I had cold water, a roof, and floor to sleep on…I
was a street performer. I played for tips…that’s
where I picked up the one man band thing with the
foot drums.”

Today, Prestage is back in Florida awaiting the release
of his third CD this March. He’s playing bars, coffee
houses and festivals. He plays a fifty-fifty mix of cover
tunes as well as songs he writes himself.

“With some, I write the music first then come up with
words that fit the music…but if I have something to
really say, I’ll write the lyrics out first and try to fit the
music to the emotion of what I’m trying to say.”

While Paul McCartney tried to fill the world with silly
love songs, this blues guy wants no part of it.

“I try not to do any love songs…there’s enough love
songs out there. I write story songs…some are per-
sonal things that happen to me, some are just philo-
sophical ideas that I have.”

Although Prestage expresses his philosophy with
music, he’s not trying to change the world.

“I don’t try to preach to anybody…I tell a story, or say
this is how I feel about a certain subject, then leave it
open to interpretation.”

Another unique aspect to his music is the way he
achieves a different sound. Prestage plays homemade
instruments, which gives him the flexibility to vary their
traditional design. Doing this enables him to pull a
totally new sound out of them. For example, his lap
string, made by his father, has nine strings instead of
the usual six. He also plays a Dobro slide guitar, cigar
box guitar, acoustic and electric guitar, as well as foot
drums.

Another way Prestage stretches his creativity is by
branching out further than just being a solo artist. He’s
a member of a five-piece blues and rockabilly band,
Swamp Shack.

At the Exodus, the beer and wine are flowing and the
coffee is good and hot. Friends gather around tables
and cozy couches while listening to Prestage, singing
his stories.

-FEBRUARY, 2006