After getting his start as a jazz guitarist, Ben Cassorla has played with everyone from Slick Rick to Washed Out and even opened for Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros. Needless to say, he’s filled out quite a rolodex of friends in the music biz, and when it came time for the studio musician to step out on his own as Cassorla, the L.A.-transplant put in a few calls.
Due February 4th, his Amigos EP features a trio of modern Americana stalwarts (Blitzen Trapper’s Eric Earley, Dawes’ Taylor Goldsmith, and Crash of the Magnetic Zeros), singer Krystle Warren, and even Parks and Recreation’s own Aubrey Plaza on sax. No really, she plays sax and there’s video to prove it.
On the latest taste of Amigos, “Lee”, Cassorla is supported by singer/songwriters Henry Wolfe and Elizaveta. Where the Plaza-featuring “Bona Fide” was a bright, jangly number with shades of Vampire Weekend, “Lee” is low burning piece of roots rock. The guitar lines play out like early Dawes balladry, reverberated and strummed hard at all the right moments. Those chords are the perfect comforting arm around the shoulder in a song about discovering your identity, as Cassorla and Elizaveta coo, “Lee, you’ll beat it once you find out what it is/you’ll beat ’em once you find out who they are/and in the end you’ll find out what’s in you.” Take a listen below.
