Lost Dog Street Band

After dark country trio Lost Dog Street Band released its 2022 album Glory, bandleader Benjamin Tod decided it was time to retire the project. Tod, alongside his wife Ashley Mae (fiddle), had been working together as a band since 2011. “I came to terms with letting go of Lost Dog completely, which is how I evaluate a lot of things in general,” explains Tod. “Oftentimes when I’m trying to make a really hard decision, I go ahead and go through the process of mourning its death and accepting that I am going to lose it.” But just a month after recording a solo project in January of 2023, Tod felt an urge to revisit the project one more time.

“I thought I was done with Lost Dog, but after recording my solo album, I looked over all the songs that I had ready for a new record. These were songs for my band. I had to admit to myself that I wasn’t done with Lost Dog.” That energy is infectious throughout the album, beginning with opener “Brighter Shade.” Guitar melodies interlock with Ashley Mae’s fiddle line, providing plenty of room for a staggering mandolin part and shuffling drums. “Each day I love you more,” Tod croons, singing to his wife. “I could leave but some part of me would stay,” he adds, before concluding, “And only I can love you like I do, and you dare to trade it all for a brighter shade of blue.”

Though there was heartbreak at the prospect of the project coming to an end, its resurrection has meant all the more in this new context. “I definitely felt a good amount of grief and sadness that it was going to come to a close. I resisted, but then I accepted that it was going to come to a close,” explains Ashley Mae. “Seeing it reinvigorated in a completely different spirit and light is very exciting.”

That new direction began in the recording process, when Tod decided to swap out their traditional recording style of overdubbing parts in favor of recording everything live. It was an experience he was introduced to during his solo album, and found the process so successful that it, in part, led to his decision to revive Lost Dog. “We were able to finish the entire album in five days, and it has a remarkable energy to it,” Tod explains. Take the title track, which closes the album. Mournful fiddle and strummed mandolin chords provide an idyllic backdrop for Tod, who sings with an unbridled passion. “Lord, I have survived,” he reflects.

“Benjamin and I, both individually and together, have been through some professionally grinding and demoralizing personal times over the past five years,” Ashley Mae explains. “To take a step back from that over the past year and realize, ‘Wow, we held it down and withstood that, and we survived that,’ was a really good, bright, shining moment. It was the high point during a demoralizing time.” As such, Survived is a saving grace, a phoenix rising from the ashes. “This record means everything,” adds Tod. “It just feels like salvation.”

Past Shows


Oct
15
th
2024
First Avenue
Oct
15
th
2024
First Avenue
Mar
9
th
2022
Turf Club
Mar
9
th
2022
Turf Club

Lost Dog Street Band

Heartland Tour (moved from Fine Line)
with Resonant Rogues and Jason Dea West
Jun
4
th
2020
Amsterdam Bar & Hall
Jun
4
th
2020
Amsterdam Bar & Hall
postponed

Lost Dog Street Band

2020 Heartland Tour
with The Hill Country Devil
Aug
17
th
2019
7th St Entry
Aug
17
th
2019
7th St Entry

Lost Dog Street Band

with Matt Heckler and Casper Allen
Feb
1
st
2019
Mainroom
Feb
1
st
2019
Mainroom

The Devil Makes Three

with Lost Dog Street Band
Jan
20
th
2017
Mainroom
Jan
20
th
2017
Mainroom

The Devil Makes Three

with Lost Dog Street Band

More Shows

Apr
8
th
Palace Theatre

JACK WHITE

Apr
7
th
Palace Theatre

JACK WHITE

Apr
17
th
First Avenue

Elderbrook

with Jerro
Apr
24
th
The Fitzgerald Theater

Varietopia with Paul F. Tompkins