Lowcountry Americana musician Bennett Coleman recently dropped his debut LP, Nothing To Do With Me, a homegrown project that was a long time coming for this mainstay of the Holy City club circuit.
Coleman, who grew up in a small town called Douglasville, Georgia, told the Charleston City Paper that it was his father who initially inspired him to start playing guitar when he was only about 11 years old.
“My dad was really the first big musical influence,” Coleman said. “We would always ride around listening to music when I was a kid. I gained a greater appreciation for music as a whole on those car rides.”
His dad also taught him the chords to the classic rock staple “Free Bird” on an old Alvarez acoustic guitar, sealing Coleman’s future as a performing artist. Since then, his approach to music-making has gradually sharpened along the way.
“I listened to a lot of pop-punk in middle school and high school, but after college my tastes mellowed, and I began to gravitate towards singer-songwriters,” he said. “My current sound is what I would call Americana-rock because it does have a story-driven Southern roots component, but it is definitely not twangy country music.”
Musical growth
It was after working a gig from 2019 to 2022 as a guitarist for touring artist, Warrick McZeke, that Coleman caught a glimpse of what it might look like to fully pursue his passion as a career.
“It made me realize that I might have what it takes to release my own music as a solo act,” he said. “From there, it’s been a crazy journey of different opportunities opening themselves up while also getting the tremendous support of family and friends who have helped me keep growing into bigger and better things.”
Over the last few years, Coleman has quietly cultivated quite a large following in the region. This is partly due to the fact that his style fits in with — but also stands out from — much of the local music scene here in Charleston.
According to Coleman, Nothing To Do With Me is an 11-song time capsule of sorts that was a year and a half in the making. “I started recording my first single in November of 2021 and released it in January of 2022, and followed that up by releasing a new single every month or two to keep the momentum going.” Each of those resulting tracks has been dutifully enshrined on the album.
For Coleman, this long-term recording project was both intense and immensely gratifying. He said he wrote all of the lyrics and music for each song, including fan favorites such as “Love Over Whiskey” and “Too Fast For This Town.” He contributed nearly all of the recorded parts including guitar, bass, drums, keys, vocals and harmonies.
With the enthusiastic response and the giant artistic step forward the new record warranted, Coleman is ever-mindful about managing his expectations.
“Most people measure success by the number of streams and digital downloads, or through views and likes on social media, and how many people come to shows,” he said. “But since those numbers are out of your direct control, I’ve found it’s much healthier to measure success by how releasing music and playing it live makes you feel, and how much you’ve grown as a musician by way of skill, the other artists that want to play with you and the quality of venues that want you to come play for them.”
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