Benjamin Tod and the Inline Six

Benjamin Tod

Benjamin Tod, a Nashville native and the former leader of the Lost Dog Street Band, says of his latest project, “Most of my career has been laser-focused on poetic, piercing songwriting in mainly a folk tradition. I wanted to prove to myself and the industry that I could write an elite country record with ease. Either way, if I didn’t accomplish that goal, I sure as hell came closer than anyone on pop country radio.” 

The inspiration for the new album, “Shooting Star,” struck in the summer of 2022, with Tod penning the opening track “I Ain’t The Man.” From there, it became an unrelenting, internal thirst for Tod to begin “imagining what all I could do within a genre slightly outside my comfort zone.” With a thick thread of honkytonk woven into it, the album leaves fingerprints on seemingly every style of country, from outlaw to red dirt, folk to indie, the culmination of which was a happily welcomed challenge for Tod.