Ben Lacy: One-Man Band
by Ann Wickstrom
December 2003

Among the clatter at the Nashville NAMM shows a few years ago, Ben Lacy quietly walked into the booth of a world-renowned guitar manufacturer and asked if it was okay to take one for a test drive. No one could have prepared for what transpired next. Lacy played Led Zeppelin’s “Kashmir,” now the most-requested of his incredible arsenal of covers. But we’re not talking about just the guitar parts. We’re talking about every part – vocals, bass, percussion, and guitar. All at once. Alone.

Now a Brian Moore endorsee, Lacy, a Lexington, Kentucky native, draws huge crowds at the Moore booth at every NAMM, with his thumping, snapping, two-handed style.

After opening for Al DiMeola during the great Midwest Guitar Show in St. Louis last year, he received two standing ovations. When DiMeola later invited Lacy back to duet a version of Chick Corea’s “Spain,” he joked, “With Ben’s three parts and my part, we should make a pretty good quartet.”

He’s been referred to as a multi-tasking machine, jaw-dropper, and show-stopper. In a world with many great guitar players, Lacy takes the term somewhere else. He is truly unique.

Vintage Guitar: Was guitar your first intrument?

Ben Lacy: No, it was cello. I started playing it in the fifth grade and switched to guitar a couple years later. I couldn’t play Van Halen on a cello! I also play a little mandolin, bass, and drums.

Did you take guitar lessons?

I took one lesson, when I was about 15, but the teacher got really mad when I told him he was out of tune, and that was the end of that! I learned by ear, by listening to records. I think my dad showed me a D, C and G chord, and I just took it from there.

Do you read music?

No, not a note. But I have a good working knowledge of modes, scales, harmonic theory, chord building, etc. I just don’t read sheet music or charts.

You’ve been in a few bands.

Yes, they’ve been mostly metal bands, all here in Lexington. Ransom, Skeleton Crew, and Bad Samaritan were some of the names.

How did you arrive at the decision to become a solo artist?

I was getting really burned out playing metal. I was playing the heavy stuff with the band, but on my own I was dabbling around with jazz, R&B, whatever. I just had a dream to be able to play solo in clubs, doing all the parts of a song myself.

Describe your style…

I’m basically playing multi-rhythm parts. Usually, the index finger of my left hand is draped over the strings with my right hand to get drum sounds. I usually slap the D string for a snare drum effect. While that’s going on, I have available fingers on my left hand to play a bass line with hammer-ons. So now I’ve got a drum beat going and I’m hammering on a bass line, and I’ve got my own built-in rhythm section. Then with the next available batch of fingers, I get the chords in there, and then add the melody. When all is said and done, if I don’t feel like I’m getting the melody across, I’ve pretty much failed.

The “groove” factor is really important to me. If someone is listening to me play solo, I want them to be able to tap their foot. And I don’t want just guitar players to dig it. I want bass players and drummers to really dig it, too. I want to sound more musical and sound as fat as possible.

It looks so effortless when you’re playing. You look so relaxed.

It’s actually a little tricky. I’m balancing three things at once, and doing the job other players would normally do. I have to be careful not to listen too intently to myself, because if I pay too much attention to just one part, there’s real potential for a train wreck. I also have a real racy brain – my brain tends to get way ahead of what I’m doing, so I really have to focus. It’s kind of like juggling; if that one piece falls to the ground, it’s train wreck time.

How many guitars do you own, and which ones are in regular rotation in your performances?

I have eleven or twelve electrics, but I pretty much just gig with my Brian Moore customs.

How did your relationship with Brian Moore Guitars come about?

It was a result of one of the NAMM shows about five years ago. I was a guitar teacher at a music store (still am) and I would just walk around to all the different booths and try their guitars. Brian Moore had one of their guitars on a horizontal stand, so you could just play it standing up. I started playing, and a little crowd gathered. The next year, the Brian Moore guys saw me and asked me to play again. A crowd gathered again, and pretty soon they just offered me a deal. I started doing clinics for them.

Can you give some details on your two main guitars?

Brian Moore makes mine, both are single-cutaways. The neck pickups are Seymour Duncan Alnico 11s and the bridge pickups are Seymour Duncan JBs (Jeff Beck). They have comfort-contoured bodies, which rest really nice on your leg. They also have Sperzel locking tuners.

How do you get such a warm, natural, acoustic sound from your strings?

The Duncans blend with RMCpiezo’s installed in the bridge. I run the guitars through a Koch Twintone tube amp and an SWR Strawberry Blonde acoustic amp, simultaneously, through a standard stereo Y cable.

Were you surprised with Al DiMeola called you out to play with him at the concert in St. Louis?

Yeah! I was kind of panicking, wondering what we were going to do. But since I knew “Spain” and he used to play with Corea, I suggested that. It was fun, and I got to bust out a pick after a whole set of fingerstyle playing!

How long did it take you to record your CD, One Track Mind?

About three months. I basically just put it together because I was getting so many inquiries at the NAMM shows.

I’ve got another one ready to go. I haven’t started recording it yet, but I’ve got eleven originals cookin’ and endless covers to choose from. I’m hoping to get some Beatles and Stevie Wonder stuff on there.

I find myself inspired most by things that aren’t guitar oriented, like Beatles melodies, Stevie’s voice…. I’m getting influenced by just about everything but guitar playing!

Who are your biggest influences?

Well, there are some that had a huge impact on me, but don’t think you hear them in my playing. One is my dad, who is a bluegrass player.

And I know it doesn’t make any sense, but another huge one is Eddie Van Halen. Women and Children First is what made me want to play guitar – it just blew my mind as a kid. I was about 10 years old, and I think what attracted me most to his style is it’s one I was never really able to interpret with much confidence; I could never really nail it.

After that, I got turned on to their first two albums, and they just blew my mind. In terms of rock guitar, I’ll put those records up against just about anything.

Then there’s Steve Morse, and Wes Montgomery. When I saw Morse at the Ryman – the first time I was in All Star Guitar Night – I was crying through most of it! It brought me back to a place when that’s all I was listening to, and trying to learn some of that Dixie Dregs stuff. It just moved me so much to see him play.

Anyway, those are the only three guitar players who either make the hair on my arms stand up or make me tear up.

My other huge influences aren’t even guitar players, which may help to explain my style. Buddy Rich, bassist Oteil Burbridge from the Allman Brothers – he’s just so melodic and so rhythmic – and James Brown. He’s an insane influence on me right now. I like to play James Brown stuff live. When I ask the audience if they want to hear some James Brown, I’m sure they’re thinking, “How is this idiot gonna do James Brown as a solo guitarist?” (laughs). But I really like stuff like that because it’s not predictable.

Guys that play closer to my style are guys like Tuck Andress and Charlie Hunter. I’ve heard enough of them to know they’re just awesome, but to be honest, I really don’t listen to them because I’m afraid I’ll be influenced by them to the point of copying their stuff. I don’t want to subconsciously steal anything from them.

And even though he’s not a musician, Michal Jordan has been a huge influence. I’m a huge NBA fan, and he inspires me to get better. Sometimes when I’m practicing, I’ll throw on an old Bulls game. Watching him play elevates me.

What are some of your goals?

I want to continue to improve, and keep using new approaches. I don’t have any desire to be a big rock star or be filthy rich. I just want to be a good player.