Award-winning singer-songwriter and Upper Ferntree Gully local Benny Allen is taking listeners on the road with him on his new single, Places I’ve Never Been.
The road tripping song grew out of Benny thinking about everything he’d been able to achieve and see since he started playing music live.
“I’ve been getting out and about in Victoria and getting out to towns I haven’t been to before and meeting all these fantastic people,” he said.
“I get to do all of this because of music and get to places I’ve never been and there was the idea for a song, so I just let the imagination run wild.”
The song has listeners wanting to jump in their cars and head to places they’ve never been accompanied by the driving beat.
“Producer Michael Carpenter and I were going for the road tripping feel while we were putting it together,” Benny said.
“We both have very similar backgrounds in terms of playing 80s pub rock, so Places I’ve Never Been is a country rock song, but also has elements of that classic Oz rock throughout.”
The song features Michael Carpenter on all instruments other than piano, which has Benny’s stamp all over it, with Madi Hodder joining Michael on backing vocals.
“I’m hoping the song will inspire people to get out and see more of Australia,” Benny said.
“I think sometimes there are too many people who want to jump on a plane and see overseas, but we have this amazing country with all these cool things to see and so many of us don’t get out there and see them, ourselves.”
Tamworth Country Music Festival audiences lapped up the new single during Benny’s numerous gigs throughout the city.
The festival, Benny’s third, was also his most successful with the singer-songwriter taking home Most Popular Balladeer and Most Popular Album at the 2020 Independent Country Music Awards and Best Video at the Australian Country Music People’s Choice Awards.
Following the release of Places I’ve Never Been, Benny plans to continue this success by hitting the road and playing many more towns and cities in 2020.
“I would really like to use it as a stepping stone to get on the road and get around Australia,” he said.
Places I’ve Never Been is now available for pre-order, and is commercially released on February 17 following its radio release on February 3.
