We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Ben Gage. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Ben below.

Ben, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.

I never thought I would be able to quit my corporate job. There is something comforting about know that you have a glob of consistent money being slopped onto your plate by someone else. You didn’t have to worry about doing any cooking, you just gobble it up and wait for more. That is the cycle I found myself in for just over a decade. I graduated college and entered the corporate world, anxious to push my square degrees into the various round holes of opportunity. I got comfortable real quick. Every time I did a good trick, my bosses gave me a nice 3-5% raise, and I kept following that formula. As I would earn more, I would buy more, as I would buy more, I would need to earn more, and the entire time I felt something festering in my gut. There isn’t much risk in that cycle, there isn’t much of anything. If you ask me what I did in the last 10 years, none of my answers would include the moves I made at a desk.

Once the pandemic hit, my part time work as a musician was all but destroyed. Those first few months I felt like I had had the worst break up of my life. I realized that the thing I love more than anything was at risk of being taken away. Everything else was fading in importance. I felt like I was a zombie walking from task to task, not putting my heart into anything. That is when I knew that I am meant to make music. Money doesn’t matter, but the value I am adding to the world, and how true I am being to my nature. My nature is to create. To move and gather, and then create more. Rinse and repeat. If I could do that every day I would be happy.

In Sept 2021 I quit my job and went full time musician. I was terrified, and still am. It’s been over a year now, and it’s still working. I wake up in love and curious. I feel that the time I am putting into myself is all productive and the things I am learning are making me a better version of the person I want to be. I guess that’s called risk, leaving behind the known for the unknown. If that’s the case I hope everyone finds a piece of risk along their path. A moment where they finally jump.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

I’m a rustbelt folksinger from Northeast Ohio. The roots that lead into my tree come heavily from a blue collar upbringing in the rural area of Ashtabula County. I grew up in a big family (7 kids!) and was fortunate to have two amazing parents that didn’t fit the traditional mold of that area. We had the traditional values of hard work, long days, power of your word, and love of family, shared heavily. But we also were encouraged to always learn, appreciate and accept anyone regardless of differences, embrace adventure, and never settle. All that culminated into what stands before you today.

I am proud of my rambling nature, and the ability to carve my own path through whatever overgrown obstacles lay ahead of me. In songwriting I pull heavily from my travels and the people that cross my path. I love how all over the world there are communities going through the same motions that we do in our pockets. The words, colors, flavors, music, etc may be a little different, but the underlying bedrock is the same. I try and place those commonalities in my music and leave that at the listener’s feet.

Songs are stories in my world, and stories feed songs. They are two sides of the same coin. I like to pair each song I write with a story. Not something that explains the song, just a story. Some of them fed the song, some of them loosely inspired one another, and some have nothing more to do with one another than they pair well. I have an ever growing catalog of those at https://www.bengagemusic.com/musings

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

Seeing the seeds I plant grow. A single story or song is nothing more than a seed. As songwriters we plant them, but it’s the fans that make them grow. When you see a person singing along, or sharing your song, you know that they helped it grow and now it means something to them. That is a one of a kind feeling, and it’s beautiful to share in that.

Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?

There is a popular booked called “The War of Art” by Steven Pressfield. I think that in the hands of a struggling creative, this book can help inspire you to keep moving. It’s the hard paths through the valleys that are the hardest, knowing you aren’t alone in that, and getting a reminder that it’s the long game is important.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.bengagemusic.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bengagemusic/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bengagemusic
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/BenGageMusic
• Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/2a2DeQ6tFGhytOdE37Gdcd?si=4pGZDsb2SNeHG8YZcwvOeQ

Image Credits
Nick Hartman James Cooper