Charlotte calling: Benji Hughes' triumphant return

On the periodic table of awesoments, Charlotte, North Carolina's Benji Hughes falls somewhere between liquor and Doritos.   

Who is Hughes, you ask?  No, he is not Rick Rubin and Edgar Winter's lovechild, despite photographic evidence to the contrary (see above).  He is one of the best songwriters we've heard in quite some time.

Friday at El Cid, where the onetime Silverlake resident played one of two sold out shows, the bearded one reminded Eastside residents what a massive talent he truly is--with songwriting skills that artists like Beck would kill for (Jackson Browne is a fan, and was seen at Friday's gig chatting up Hughes pre-show, as was Entourage star Adrian Grenier). 

In fact, Beck's former drummer and bass player (Joey Waronker and Bram Inscore, respectively) both turn up on Hughes' just-released two-disc offering, "A Love Extreme."

Songs like "Tight Tee Shirt" and "Neighbor Down the Hall" are winning Hughes fans all over the country and second listens from local music fans who thought he was merely a curiosity on the Eastside hipster circuit back when he lived in Los Angeles.  Hughes, who once worked in music publishing (he is responsible for the ad jingle heard in Captain Morgan's "Got a little captain in ya" campaign), is now set to conquer college radio.  Mark our words: Hughes will be the unsung hero of CMJ this year (his disc was at #31 on the trade magazine's charts last week).

So what does Hughes' music sound like? That depends on what song you are listening to.  On tracks like "Even If" he channels Rufus Wainwright.  Other songs mine territory familiar to Beck, Ben Folds or even Prince fans (Hughes and his band covered Prince's "Take Me With U" at El Cid).  Hughes also knows how to pen a country tune; he wrote "Let's Duet" for Jake Kasdan's "Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story."

Keefus Ciancia, who co-wrote the record and played keyboards live with Hughes on Friday is responsible for the record's fantastic production, which is heavy on beats straight out of an Alexander O'Neal tune circa 1986.

Hughes was just featured on NPR's "All Things Considered" over the weekend; to hear the segment, go here.

-- Post and photo by Charlie Amter