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Benji Crane and Megan Anne perform at Sunday Concert in Tottenham

August 12, 2021   ·   0 Comments

The Tottenham Sunday Concerts in the Park series, sponsored by the Tottenham & Beeton District Chamber of Commerce, the County of Simcoe, Town of New Tecumseth, the Tottenham Legion, and several local businesses, continued on Sunday, August 8, with performances by two artists.

Singer, song-writer, Benji Crane started the afternoon show.

That was followed up with Megan Anne and her band with a high energy performance.

Toronto based Benji has been performing for several years and got his start in music with a different style than he plays these days.

“I started off as a violinist, classically trained, when I was seven,” Benji explained. “My mom got me into that. She really liked classical music. I don’t come from a musical family at all. Me and my cousin, we’re the only musicians in the family. My mother loved the violin and she wanted me to become a violinist. It didn’t turn out that way but I’m glad she got me into music.”

He has played with several youth orchestras and has been involved in competitions.

Benji picked up guitar when he was 16 and started experimenting with playing and singing.

For the most part, he is self-taught on guitar but his background in violin gave him the knowledge he needed to pick up another instrument.

“Now, I’m mostly interested in gaining vocal ability and getting better at singing,” he said.

Benji plays a mix of cover tunes and original music.

“I do cover tunes but the main thing are my songs,” he explained. “But when you’re playing the bar scene you have to know a lot of cover tunes.”

He describes his style as “some folk, some jazz influence, and there’s an undertone of melancholy in some of my deeper songs. I’m influenced by hip-hop as well.”

He has several songs on line, including some stuff he did at Seneca College as a music student.

Unfortunately, the pandemic put a hold on a lot of music careers, and Benji found there were few places left to play.

Now that restrictions are lifting, he said he plans to get back out there and discover where he fits in the local music scene.

By Brian Lockhart
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

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