(image source: http://www.afropunk.com/profiles/blogs/new-music-stream-garage-rock-prod…)

On a weekday evening, some of my classmates and I met up with our TA and took the short walk to world Café Live to hear Benjamin Booker, a musician I had never heard of before or knew anything about.
We arrive early and after over an hour of the opener, we hear that Booker is about to come on.
To say I was surprised to hear his voice would be an understatement; I was expecting a traditional soul singer sitting on a barstool alone. Booker was lively but calm, his voice was smooth and powerful and the backup band livened up the songs and made them upbeat. If I had to categorize his music, I would say rock. He paused between songs to take a few swigs of beers, he spoke roughly into the microphone and my classmates and I had trouble understanding any of the words he was singing.
But, perhaps that was not the point. The music and the passion in his voice communicated just as much as lyrics could and I came away with an idea of Booker just as I would a singer who’s lyrics I knew by heart. He was impassioned and emotional, some of his songs were about home, some were about love. I am glad I was surprised by him and his performance, because it reminded me not to assume what someone or something will be like without exploring and trying it first.
-Nora Laberee, SAS ’18

Booker’s video for his song “Have You Seen My Son”