Benjamin Tod On Songs Seemingly Coming To Him From Above: “There Is A Deeply Spiritual Element To It”

Sometimes the songs just come to you.

Benjamin Tod joined the Whiskey Riff Raff podcast to talk about his faith, staying grounded while country keeps changing, doing his best to no longer be an antagonist, why staying true matters to yourself matters now more than ever, and much more.

If you’ve ever listened to the often sinister and sincere stylings of Benjamin Tod, you know that the subject matter of his songs can vary from hopeful to as dark as it gets. The country music artist has quite the story to get where he is today – battling drug addiction at a young age, busking to try and make ends meet, and hopping freight trains to travel across the country.

And at every stage of his life, he’s patiently waited for the songs to come to him, as he explained to us:

“Songs come to me. So it’s like, I didn’t necessarily plan to do anything. I think of songs like clouds. When they come down, you’ve got to get it down right then. It’s taken from the sky… I’m sitting in bed and something comes to mind and I get my phone out and record three seconds of a melody and come back to it a month later.”

Some songwriters and artists consider the songwriting experience supernatural, and attest to the same thing that Tod is speaking about there. They’ll just be sitting there, and then all of the sudden a hit song drops in their lap from out of nowhere. It’s a phenomenon that’s hard to explain… though some believe that it’s a special delivery from a higher power.

Benjamin Tod isn’t sure how to describe it:

“I haven’t thought about that intellectually enough to make a complete statement like that. I see the entire world – the older I get especially – in spiritual terms and in spiritual forces working one way or another.

So I would say that a lot of what I do, particularly in the process of writing this record, I would absolutely say there is a deeply spiritual element to it. It’s almost a feeling like you’re just a conductor of something that is happening. It isn’t even yours necessarily.”

@whiskeyriff @Benjamin Tod #whiskeyriffraff #whiskeyriff ♬ original sound – Whiskey Riff

Tod did admit that songs off of the record he’s working on do feel like they’ve been bestowed upon him by God.

However, he offered a counterpoint to that… saying that he wasn’t confident that the Jamey Johnson written song Honky Tonk Badonkadonk was a gift from God (Yes, that Jamey Johnson penned that track for Trace Adkins).

And Benjamin Tod would know if he was being helped by the Lord. After all, he’s been focusing more and more on his faith in the last six months as he and his wife, Ashley Mae, have a kid on the way. The 34-year-old told us that he’s dove 100% into bettering himself in all aspects of his life – but especially in his relationship with God:

“It’s been all encompassing, getting my mind, body and spirit (in shape). I’m going to church every single week, doing Bible in a year and doing a deep dive of the theology. I recommend (that) even if you’re not a Christian. People sort of think lowly of general Christianity and Christian theology, but it’s one of the most intellectually stimulating stories in the history of the world.”

@whiskeyriff @Benjamin Tod #whiskeyriffraff #whiskeyriff ♬ original sound – Whiskey Riff

I’ll second that. You can learn a lot from The Bible… the most important book you’ll ever read.

And you can hear a lot more from Benjamin Tod by downloading the podcast on Apple Podcasts. Just search “Whiskey Riff Raff” or click here.

We’re also available on Spotify and wherever else you can listen to podcasts.

Cheers, y’all.

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