Upon his first step onto the stage, the high pitched female hollers erupted in full force.  Benny is in the purest sense the epitomy of a rock star. Draped in a vintage tasselled jacket, worn fitted jeans and a bandana on his head, he was a vision right out of the Woodstock era where long haired rock gods sent girls swooning out of their pants faster than you could light a match.

After just one chord on the electric guitar, you knew you were going to see a show that rivaled any top bar band in the city. Benny has an edge to him that is undeniable.  The music is a crisp, yet rough cut rock that gets you on your feet with your hands in the air without much persuading.

His sideman and bass player Daniel Paroissien has an equal amount of sex appeal and throwback rocker quality, and their female drummer Cat Leahy rounds out the stage show in a way that is hot, hot, hot and keeps you wanting more.

As part of their dual Canadian tour, Tom Richardson also joined them on stage adding his acoustic guitar talents to the mix.  Tom brought a certain tameness to the esthetic that created an interesting combination, and you saw the friendship and camaraderie between the two of them play out in their performance. It also didn’t hurt that both Tom and Benny were returning to Serenity for the second time.  As a small town boy himself, Benny didn’t pull any punches about the fact that he felt like coming home when performing on this acreage, even referring to owner/operator Shirley de Vooght as his Canadian mom.  This definitely earned him some love from the tight knit community in the audience.

With an air of Hendrix, and a dash of Bon Jovi, Benny is a force to be reckoned with as he channels his down under roots into some of the purest rock I’ve heard in quite sometime.

Benny Walker performed at Serenity on August 17, 2013.

His current album “Sinners & Saints” is available on iTunes.

Benny is currently playing regular shows in his homeland of Australia. For tour dates visit http://www.bennywalkermusic.com