New DVD will be released through the Coalition of Independent Music Stores on Tuesday, October 3rd

NASHVILLE, TN - On the heels of his critically acclaimed solo debut cd "Human Condition", Gary Bennett will release his first DVD titled "Inside and Out" on October 3rd.

Bennett co-fronted and was a founding member of one of the most successful country music bands of the 1990's, BR549. During Gary's tenure the group received three Grammy nominations and was hailed by music industry trade magazine Billboard as having single-handedly revived the soul of country music in Nashville. The band sold over 500,000 albums and toured the world, headlining shows as well as opening for such artists as Bob Dylan, George Jones, Merle Haggard, the Black Crowes and Brian Setzer. BR549 was also voted "Best Country Group" in 1996 by Rolling Stone magazine.

"Inside and Out" focuses on Bennett's departure from music in 2001 and his return as a solo artist earlier this year. The DVD is split up into two parts.

"Live in Nashville" showcases Gary's new songs as well as a few old ones in a live setting with a strong backing band including: Jimmy Lester, Milan Miller, and Mark Winchester. The show was taped in Nashville in front of an audience of Bennett's diehard fans who were treated to an amazing performance and also a surprise toward the end of the show when Donnie Herron (BR549, Bob Dylan) joined Gary on stage for the first time in five years.

"The Making of Human Condition" is a short documentary which includes footage from the recording sessions that took place in 2005. Interviews, never before seen BR549 clips, home movies, photos, demo recordings, and Gary Bennett charm all come together to make this documentary a must see!

For the release of "Inside and Out", Gary teamed up with the Coalition of Independent Music Stores and their distributor JunketBoy to make this an indie-store release.

To view a list of stores that will be carrying the DVD,
log on to http://www.thinkindie.com

The DVD is also available for pre-order, right here on GB's website. Click Here to pre-order "Inside and Out"

:: GAC Online ::

Feel free to describe Gary Bennett's brand of country music however you like, just don't use the term "retro." Sure, the Las Vegas-born, Nashville-based singer/songwriter/guitarist may be best known as the former co-leader of the decidedly retro outfit BR549, but the music on Human Condition, Gary's solo debut, takes a wider, more contemporary view. That might be partially explained as a reaction to his years with his former band; whose nightly appearances at Nashville nightspot Robert's Western World sparked the revival and transformation of lower Broadway from a row of boarded up buildings into a brightly lit strip of thriving honky tonks. Click Here For the Full Article

:: The Daily Times - Knoxville, TN ::

Gary Bennett back after break, split from BR549

By Steve Wildsmith
of The Daily Times Staff

Singer-songwriter Gary Bennett knows what it means to stay true to yourself.

As a member of country outfit BR549, he found success — the band was called “without question, one of the best groups to ever walk out of the roadhouse circuit and record an album” by The New York Times, crowned “Nashville's hippest band” by Playboy, nominated as Best New Country Group by the Academy Of Country Music, named the same by Rolling Stone and Grammy nominated for Best Country Performance.

But after a debut EP (“Live at Robert’s”) and four albums (the band’s self-titled debut, 1998's “Big Backyard Beat Show,” 2000’s “Coast to Coast Live” and 2001’s “This Is BR549,” Bennett just wasn’t comfortable with the band’s retro tag that had become more of a burden than a blessing.

So he quit it all and got a day job.

“I kind of just needed to catch my breath,” Bennett told The Daily Times this week. “I’d never been in that situation, where I had to leave something that’s successful, but it was like my mind had been in a dust cloud for the seven or eight years we had been on the road, and I just needed to forget it. I thought I just needed to forget about it a while and see how I felt.

“I had moved to Nashville to be a songwriter; I wasn’t trying to be an old-timey songwriter; I was just writing what came out and just happened to be influenced by that early music. But then it turned into such a focus on that stuff, and it was like we couldn’t be progressive at all. I felt like with every record that came out, there was less and less promotion behind it, and I finally decided to step away from it.”

But he never quit writing songs. Even if he had wanted to, he couldn’t have, Bennett said — the songs just come to him, and getting them down on paper is like releasing a pressure valve for what swirls into his head.

“It’s what I do, really — I had people say, ‘Don’t quit writing songs,’ but I don’t choose to do that or not do it; they just come into my head, and I have to do something with them,” Bennett said. “It was never my intention of going away; I just needed a break to make it fun again. So I bought some recording equipment and worked on some demos that turned into this record (last year’s “Human Condition”) and just lived life for a while.

“I was pretty content with working a day job and writing songs, until I made this record. And then it suddenly got a little hard to go back to work. I played some shows, and it had become fun again. It was fun to get out around creative people, and that’s what I was really shooting for.”

After all, that’s why Bennett got into the business. BR549 rose up along Lower Broadway in Nashville, in the middle of country music’s toughest jungle, a place that sits a few blocks from the Country Music Hall of Fame and the arena where the Predators play hockey — and country's mega-stars perform for thousands. In the hipster dives and honky-tonk bars, dozens of musicians who will never see the inside of a limousine unless they're driving it or the office of a major-label record executive unless they're cleaning it pour out their hearts ever night.

From this oasis, BR549 sparked a fire, charming the crowds at Robert’s Western World. Taking their name from Junior Samples’ phone number on “Hee Haw,” the quintet drew fevered crowds night after night, and it wasn’t long before Arista Records caught the buzz and signed the boys.

But after a few years, the Manwear suits and retro label began to wear thin. As much as Bennett tried to go against the grain of the hillbilly stereotype BR549 had been saddled with, he couldn’t escape it.

“I tried to write something that would distract everybody from that, but most radio guys would get the CD, look at it and go, ‘Oh; it’s those guys,’” he said. “They wouldn’t even listen to it. But now, it’s exciting again, and I think it’s the music. Most of the stuff I’m doing is new, along with some of the stuff I wrote with BR549, but even those songs, it’s different guys playing them, so it’s a different interpretation of them.

“It’s kind of neat, because it feels more spontaneous and fresh. When the music business takes over music and the thought process, it takes all the fun out of it, but this feels a little more real. It’s fun for me that people remember anything about me at all, and if they recognize me from BR549, that’s a positive thing.

“People come up and want to say hi and talk about the show when it’s over, and that’s what makes it worth sitting in a van all day long,” he added. “I tell them all to come out to the show, because we’re going to play and have a lot of fun.”

June 2006

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GARY BENNETT & CHRIS SCRUGGS ANNOUNCE TOUR DATES

Former BR549 Co-Frontmen will Co-Headline in Nashville at EXIT/IN on Friday, July 28th

NASHVILLE - Gary Bennett and Chris Scruggs have announced a short list of co-headlining concert dates that will pair the two for the very first time. Their first show will take place in Nashville at the historic rock room EXIT/In on Friday, July 28th with special guests The Farewell Drifters.

In 2001 after five major album releases and years of constant world wide touring as the co-frontman of BR549, Gary Bennett left the group. Bennett retreated from music for a short while, only to return to writing and performing early this year with the release of his solo debut with Landslide Records, "Human Condition".

Gary's departure from the band triggered a phone call to Chris Scruggs from the remaining members of BR549. He took over as the co-frontman for the band. Working 200 dates a year with BR549 gave Chris a strong taste of worldwide press and popular attention, recording experience and skull-battering roadwork. Since amicably leaving the band in January 2005, he has devoted his time and energy towards a solo career.

In addition to the Tennessee dates, Bennett & Scruggs will take their show to Wisconsin for three nights in a row at the Oneida Casino where they will also be joined by The Derailers.

Upcoming Co-Headlining Dates:

Fri 7/28 Nashville, TN @ EXIT/In
Fri 8/18 Knoxville, TN @ Preservation Pub
Sun 9/17 Oneida, WI @ Oneida Casino w/The Derailers
Mon 9/18 Oneida, WI @ Oneida Casino w/The Derailers
Tues 9/19 Oneida, WI @ Oneida Casino w/The Derailers

~~ Just Announced ~~ Tickets On Sale starting today for the Exit/In Show in Nashville :: Click Here or call (615) 321-3340

EXIT/In poster design by: Chris Kro

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:: Art Voice - Buffalo NY ::

In 1993, Gary Bennett was one of the founding members of Nashville based BR-549—the band that was supposed to break the whole alt.country scene on a massive scale. The buzz for that band was so loud that they landed on the cover of Billboard magazine before even signing a record deal—which they eventually did, after provoking a bidding war among the major labels in Music City. But the big explosion never quite came. There were several world tours and five albums—first with Arista, then Sony—but in 2002 Bennett stepped back from it all, feeling that the “retro” label the outfit initially seemed to beg for had become an albatross. While Chuck Mead continued on with a renamed BR549 (minus the dash), Bennett did what any self-respecting man would do—he got a job as a “loader” for Home Depot. He made this career move, he says, just to “prove to myself I was still the same ol’ country boy inside.” With his new album, Human Condition (Landslide), Bennett proves to us that he’s still that and more. Displaying a level of maturity that could sometimes seem lacking in the bar band fare of BR-549, listeners quickly realize that this is country music the way it oughta be—minus the campy “aw shucks” posturing of his old group..

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:: GaryBennettMusic.com ::

Songs from "Human Condition" have placed in the top five "most listened to" chart that appears on the popular website, Project Opus. "Better Than This" has even reached the #1 position as the most listened to song on the entire website.

Other songs appear in the top five "most listened to" country songs on Project Opus, ahead of artists like Fred Eaglesmith who have multiple albums available on the website.

To access Gary's ProjectOpus page, click here

April 2006

March 2006

:: The Tennessean ::

New album is in great 'Condition'

Without a whole lot of hubbub, ex-BR549 honcho Gary Bennett entered the recording studio last year and made an extraordinary country album.

The album in question, Human Condition, was just released on Landslide Records, and it features contributions from Nashville all-stars including steel guitar Hall of Famer Lloyd Green, guitar wizard Kenny Vaughan (Marty Stuart), bass man Mark Winchester (Emmylou Harris) and quality drummer Jimmy Lester (Webb Wilder, Los Straitjackets).

Producer R.S. Field, who has been responsible for some of Nashville's most memorable albums of the past couple of decades (let's see . . . there's Shaver's Tramp on Your Street, Webb Wilder's Doo Dad, Allison Moorer's The Duel, Mark Germino's Radartown and a bunch of others), helmed the project. It's only February, but Human Condition's strong songs and exquisite musicianship mark it as an early contender for those contentious year-end best-of lists.

— Peter Cooper, Staff Writer

:: Nashville City Paper ::

Former BR549 member takes new direction for solo effort

Gary Bennett was a founding member of the seminal group BR549, a band many feel almost single-handedly revived traditional country music during the 1990s. They became enormously popular not only among the Nashville hardcore, but attracted interest from publications and listeners who normally ordinarily ignored country music. They even won Rolling Stone’s recognition as Best Country Group in 1996.

But Bennett eventually felt things had reached a creative dead end, and he left the group in 2002. His new solo disc Human Condition (Landslide), whose release will be celebrated tonight at 3rd and Lindsley, represents the kind of music Bennett feels became increasingly difficult for BR549 to make.

“There were a number of original songs late in my time with the group that I thought would be much bigger than they were, but we had gotten so locked into that retro mode people just couldn’t see beyond it,” Bennett said. “The songs on this project are more in tune with the way I feel now, and what I think is current musically. It was a lot of fun to make, and is a more song-oriented record. It’s not a case of trying to make a song that fits any pre-conceived notion, but instead doing each one so they can stand on their own.”

Among Human Condition’s best tracks is “Better Than This” a strong number co-written with Todd Snider. That song is illustrative of the CD’s focus on Bennett originals. His tune “Just Wanna Be With You” is one of several cuts that feature Marty Stuart, who plays both mandolin and rhythm guitar.

“Marty and I had known each other for a long time from playing in the honky-tonks on Lower Broadway,” Bennett said. “We ran into each other and he asked me what I was doing. When I told him that I was about to start a new project, he pulled out some paper, wrote down a bunch of numbers and told me to give him a call when I was ready. He was fantastic, and Kenny is one of my favorite guitarists. All these guys are people who were really into making music with feeling, energy and conviction, and music that has a fresh quality.”

R.S. Field,, whose past clients have included Sonny Landreth, Allison Moorer and Webb Wilder, not only produced the session but plays a variety of instruments. Legendary steel guitarist Lloyd Green is another special guest.

“We’re going to do about seven or eight dates right out of the box and see how things go,” Bennett concluded. “But I’m really happy about how this disc turned out, and I think that the people who may have formed one opinion of my music from BR549 will see the other sides of my personality from Human Condition.”

— Ron Wynn --- rwynn@nashvillecitypaper.com

February 2006

:: GaryBennettMusic.com ::

This Saturday night Gary will be hosting the 3,081st broadcast of the Midnite Jamboree. Hear it LIVE at 12:00 Midnight Central Time.

You can drop in to the Troubadour Theater at the Ernest Tubb Record Shop (music valley drive location) to see this show, or tune in live on 650 WSM on the radio or online or on Sirius channel 111.

E-mail your comment or request to possibly be read on-air during Gary's performance to: mnj@ernesttubb.com

XM Radio has recently been playing Gary's music on a few of their channels. The next step is getting them to play it even more than they already have been. To help out with airplay, we encourage you to call or e-mail XM and make a request.. or two... or three.

Here are the key channels who you should contact with your requests:

866.964.8439 (toll-free) CROSS COUNTRY channel
xcountry@xmradio.com

866.267.0349 (toll-free) AMERICA! channel
america@xmradio.com

866.733.4265 (toll-free) Hank's Place channel
hanksplace@xmradio.com

Tune in on Thursday (February 23) for a special in-studio performance at the WSM studios!

Gary Bennett along with bandmates Kenny Vaughan (guitar) & Jimmy Lester (drums) will be making an appearance on the Billy Cody & Jennifer Herron show this Thursday morning at 8 am.

The guys will be performing a few stripped down versions of some songs from the new record. Bill & Jennifer will also be playing some cuts from the cd. You can listen online as well as on Sirius channel 111. If you're near Nashville you can simply tune into 650 WSM am to hear the show.

:: GaryBennettMusic.com ::

Human Condition Release

You can now order Gary's new cd right here on the website. We're providing a direct link to Gary's amazon page if you click "Buy the Cd". The cd will also be available in most Tower Records, Best Buy, Border's Book & Music, the Ernest Tubb Record Shop, FYE, and local record stores. The cd is also available on iTunes and at LandslideRecords.com

And now a letter from the man himself....

Gearin' up

Hey, friends,

Well the cd is finally being released, seems like a lifetime. It's still almost as exciting as it ever was, to see your songs go out into the world to hopefully find their way to peoples ears and hearts. By all accounts, there is a pretty good buzz so far.

Been rehearsing alot with the band, and trying to keep all that happening. It will be so nice to see some of you' all out on the road, the fans are what I've missed the most.

In all the editing, proofreading the album artwork, We inadvertently left off the songwriter credits, for the first printing of this album. So the next printing will have all that information, so, for anyone who wants to know, I wrote 9 of the 12 songs on it. The three others were pitched to me by others, and I love them, they are:

Steel Ball ( Billy Ray Reynolds)

That's What I'm Here For ( Darren Long)

What Turned Out To Be ( Rich Cliburn)

Also, "Better Than This", Todd Snider helped me out on.

Thanks for listening,
Gary

January 2006

:: CMT.com ::

LISTEN TO HUMAN CONDITION ONLINE FROM START TO FINISH!

Hear Gary's new cd by logging on to CMT's official website. They have kindly featured Gary on the main site and on the main listening party section of CMT.com.

You can also pre-order the cd by logging on.

:: Mark Pucci Media ::

GARY BENNETT CELEBRATES DEBUT SOLO CD WITH SHOW AT
3RD AND LINDSLEY ON FEBRUARY 24

NASHVILLE, TN - Landslide Records singer/songwriter Gary Bennett will celebrate the release of his debut solo CD, Human Condition, with a special one-show-only performance at 3rd and Lindsley Bar and Grill on Friday, February 24 at 7:00 PM.

Gary Bennett co-fronted and was a co-founding member of the critically acclaimed country music band BR549, which recorded five albums (four with Arista and one with Sony), received three Grammy nominations and was hailed by music industry trade magazine Billboard as having single-handedly revived the soul of country music in Nashville. During Gary's tenure, the band sold over 500,000 albums and toured the world, headlining shows as well as opening for such artists as Bob Dylan, George Jones, Merle Haggard, the Black Crowes and Brian Setzer. BR549 was also voted "Best Country Group" in 1996 by Rolling Stone magazine.

Bennett left BR549 in 2002 and retreated from music for a short while, only to return to writing and performing. Produced by R.S. Field (Allison Moorer, John Mayall, Webb Wilder), Human Condition highlights 12 new songs, most of which were written by Bennett, including one co-written with Todd Snider ("Better Than This"). Gary's studio band features some of Nashville's finest musicians, including Kenny Vaughan (Marty Stuart) on guitar, Jimmy Lester (Webb Wilder, Los Straitjackets) on drums and Mark Winchester (Emmylou Harris) on bass. Special guests include Marty Stuart, who plays mandolin on several tracks as well as rhythm guitar on the song, "Just Wanna Be With You," legendary pedal steel guitar player Lloyd Green and producer R.S. Field on several instruments.

For his CD release party show, Gary will be backed by Chris Cassello on guitar, Mark Winchester on bass and Jimmy Lester on drums. 3rd and Lindsley Bar and Grill is located at 818 3rd Avenue South in Nashville. Doors open at 6:00 PM. For more information, call (615) 259-9891 or visit www.3rdandlindsley.com.

For more information on Gary Bennett, visit www.garybennettmusic.com or www.landsliderecords.com.

:: GaryBennettMusic.com ::

With the release of Gary's very first solo cd "Human Condition" on February 21st, we've completely re-designed the website and we have a ton of new features for you GB fans.

Be sure to log onto the Message Board to share your thoughts on the new website and features such as the GB podcast and wallpaper.

We are still booking tour dates for 2006 and will post them as soon as more are confirmed. Keep checking this website to find out when GB and the band will be in your neck of the woods. More updates coming soon.. - Jon Hensley