Benevento / Russo Duo Darts CD

I spent the better part of two years traveling in Latin America and Eastern Europe with a thrown-together band, learning to write songs while watching the world go by through the windows of trains and airplanes. I eventually moved back to Texas, and for 2 more years, I hit the Dallas scene with a band called Stories Of London. I learned how to record, how to play my instruments, how to fall in love, and how to write a love song. I suppose those are all necessary tools...Eventually, the band broke up, as all bands do. I also split with my girlfriend of two years. I learned that a broken heart is not all my 19-year-old songwriter self of years ago thought it was cracked up to be. Two break-ups in a month taught me to feel broken. I learned devastation. I also learned writer's block and burn-out, and as a result I learned what it felt like to work a real job. . I learned how to walk into work and keep from showing that I had been listening to mewithoutYou and crying for no apparent reason on the drive there... again. I waited tables until I couldn't handle one more chicken parmigiana, and then I followed my dreams to England. I re-learned to write songs. I remembered how to be an artist. I remembered how much I loved music, and was in love with performing it. Maybe that's why I'm paying this money to go see Sondre Lerche tonight. His music reminds me that people do care about writing the way I do. Some people do care about melody and chord structures and creativity the way I do. And some people don't. What I love is entertaining both crowds at the same time. I love being able to resonate with people who have learned or are learning the things I have endured in my years on this planet. My music isn't world-changing. My voice won't ever win on any TV contests, and my perfectionist side wants me to add something about my musicianship never measuring up in my mind. But I am passionate about what I do. I love ...

So ...

As the liner notes explain, much of the music on the CD is grounded on a single theme: newly composed melodies based upon the harmony of well known standard songs. The term "contrafact," used to describe such a jazz composition, ...