Meet Benjamin Wilson

Today we’d like to introduce you to Benjamin Wilson.

Hi Benjamin, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstories.
I’ve been interested in the musical process since I was in middle school when I started songwriting. I remember the joy of putting words together in a specific way in order to allow the listener to think about things they’d never thought of before – or to think about them in a way they’ve never thought of them before. There was such a power in songwriting. And it really fit with my character, because it was (and is) not always easy for me to verbally articulate the ideas I’m trying to get across. But if I can sit down and write it out, and re-arrange it, then I really feel I can give it the justice it’s due. This also led me to my first recording studio experience – when my church youth group band (“FREED”) recorded our first EP. Man, the studio experience got me. It was magical in there. I just loved the atmosphere, and I wanted to do more of that – as a career.

And so I interned in recording studios after that, and then went to audio engineering school at SAE Nashville. When I moved to Nashville, I was taken aback by the number of quality musicians and songwriters there. It was very intimidating, so I didn’t write my own songs, sing, or play guitar for years after I moved to Nashville. But, I ended up meeting my future wife, Kassie, in Nashville….and she was a singer. So, we started making music together in some form or fashion back in 2006. That slowly grew into us becoming an official duo – at first, called “My One And Only”, and then later re-branded into our current name “Goldpine”. It has been a long and sometimes slow process, but we finally got to the point where we are now touring all over the US regularly, sharing our songs and stories and lives with audiences all over. It is really a huge blessing to be able to do that.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
The road to where I am today has been….well…semi-smooth – and long. I mean, I don’t feel as if I had to climb Mount Everest, or do some ridiculously crazy task to get here…but I had to have perseverance. (I suppose it does take perseverance to climb Mount Everest though….but maybe you get my point). I knew that I wanted to do music since I was a kid, so I think I just kept that on my mind and I took the necessary steps that I needed to when they came available. To me, this process was more like a slow migration, as opposed to some roller coaster. I think perseverance is one of the most important things when it comes to following a dream (I suppose I can only speak specifically for the dream of creating music). I have done a lot of things throughout the last decade that I really hated doing….for instance, booking comes to mind. I started booking gigs for my wife back around 2007 or so, and I absolutely hated it. I hated cold emailing. I hated following up.

I hated waiting for responses. I hated the unknown. Yet, I knew that no one else was going to do it, so I continued booking. And after about 5 years of doing it, things became easier in that area, but I had to stick with it. And now I’ve built relationships with so many venues across the states and learned much more efficient ways of booking and I’m still doing a lot of the booking for us these days. There have been many other things that parallel that situation also, like making time for songwriting (which wasn’t always how I wanted to spend my time) and promoting ourselves (who wants to do that?). I did not grow up in a musical family. And so I feel I really had to learn everything from scratch, which is not a fast process. But it is such a rich process.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
So, my wife and I make up the Americana duo Goldpine (www.goldpinemusic.com). The main thing we do is share our stories through our songs with audiences all over the US. We have the privilege of connecting with people in deep and meaningful ways, and through such a powerful medium as music. Honestly, that is the best part of what we do. Many shows, we walk away from them, and we kind of just bask in the power of the way we were able to share something with other people…whether it’s opening up about the story about a Vietnam Veteran family member, or shedding some tears over a re-visited spiritual connection, or a new realization of the brevity of our time with our loved ones. We are all about stories. My wife always says that she wants the audience “to feel as if they’ve read our diaries” after attending our live shows. And maybe that brings to the surface some much-needed reflection for the listener. Those are powerful things….but we also have an Americana-rockin’ time! I suppose one pretty cool thing, is that we are pretty self-contained.

We tour as a duo – we travel in a van that I converted into a pretty sweet tour van (with running water, fridge, TV, and queen bed) – we record a lot of our own records in our studio (remember I went to audio engineering school) – and we’re married! So, it’s a pretty sweet little package. I guess what I’m most proud of is that, concerning the music life, we just “made it work”. Like, we did touring work, in that we literally built our own tour van, so we don’t have the financial burden of hotels every night….and truth wherever we go still feels like home because we have our “home” with us there. And we made our financial situation work, in that we book all our own gigs and so we are in complete control of how often we play and what venues we play. Speaking of finances, another thing that helps us tremendously is that we have an Airbnb rental at the bottom of our house. So, even when we’re on the road, we are still making money back in Nashville through our rental. I took several months and converted our two-car garage into a full one-bedroom modern “shabby chic” apartment for short-term rentals. Wow, has that been a blessing. It has really allowed us to be on the road touring, and not feel much financial strain. I’m truly thankful to God that I grew up in a family that taught me construction skills. Those have been priceless for our family.

Is there a quality that you most attribute to your success?
I mentioned earlier about perseverance. I think that is it. In other words, I think that being willing to handle things yourself as they come, in the long term is a big deal. There are times to delegate tasks and jobs to others, but you might not always have that option (or the finances) for that. And so, being willing to take on any responsibility that you need to, and being willing to wear any hat that you need to, is such a great start. I remember back in audio engineering school, they would talk about being open to taking any audio engineering job that you’re offered, even if you don’t know how to work that particular studio’s audio console. Instead of rejecting the job offer, just accept it with confidence, and then study like hell to learn that console before your session. That is kind of the mode of operation that I adopted for our music career.

Don’t know how to book gigs? Then just start sending emails. Don’t know how to write the lyrics you’re imagining? Then just start writing and re-writing (or take courses!). Don’t know how to share a show with the artist you want to collaborate with? Then, attend one of their shows and meet them, stay in contact, and keep your name on their mind. Many people move to Nashville thinking that they will give themselves 2 or 3 years to see if they can “make it” in music. But really, if you want to do music, you need to give yourself 10 years before you feel that you are at the place you wanted to be. That is a real investment, but the truth is that there is no replacement for going “all in”. We’ve seen it time and time again…the person that risks everything for a dream is the one that has the best chance of success.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.goldpinemusic.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/goldpinemusic/
• Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/goldpinemusic
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/goldpinemusic
• SoundCloud: https://on.soundcloud.com/j7XJ1
• Other: https://open.spotify.com/album/6gmKzaYiGT6MUgp4Vfri7u

Image Credits:
Listening Through the Lens, Ralph Arvesen, Jessica Katherine Photography, and Raechel Curtis Photography