Ben Stalets is the folk hero Toledo needs right now.
His unapologetically dark, blue-collar anthems are a musically delicious mixture of rock, country, and bluegrass. When the Old West End troubadour shared his influences with American Songwriter magazine, he cited artists ranging from Willie Nelson to Warren Zevon. And the publication Midwestern Gentlemen once called Stalets “that bowl of soup that combines equal parts John Prine and Bob Dylan with a dash of Jeff Tweedy and splash of The Jayhawks. ”
Stalets brings these musical stylings to the Original Sub Shop & Deli, 402 Broadway St., Toledo, on Saturday. His performance continues the Over Yonder Concert House series, and will be recorded for a live album. The show is sold out.
A 2008 graduate of Rossford High School, Stalets had a guitar when he was 14, but never learned how to play it. But when he was 20, he got the musical bug in him and traded some bike parts for a guitar, which he was now determined to master.
“I really liked Bob Dylan in my late teens, and he made it seem like anybody could sing and write songs,” Stalets said.
“My buddy’s dad showed me how to play three chords, and I learned two more and then I was set,” Stalets said. “I got into [songwriting] kind of late, so I feel like I have a chip on my shoulder.”
Stalets is signed to Detroit-based WhistlePig Records, and to date has released two full length albums and various EPs. He’s planning an album of live recordings, some of which he’ll likely perform at the Original Sub Shop.
“I’ve been recording shows for the last six months. I got the equipment to do that through the Arts Commission, so I’ve recorded a few shows over the summer,” Stalets said. “We want to mix and match and have everything be the best versions of songs. Not best as far as my performance, but crowd participation and reaction. I want it to feel real. My show is heavily reliant on storytelling and interacting with the crowd, so you need people there to do a proper live album.”
Stalets also has a full studio album coming out later this year called Lucky Dog. He currently tours all over the Midwest, performing shows on weekends. To date, Stalets has opened for such performers as Justin Townes Earle, Damien Jurado, and Whitey Morgan.
He cites the Todd Snider live album Near Truths and Hotel Rooms as a life-changing record for its level of intimacy between performer and audience, something he strives for in his own live shows.
“[Near Truths and Hotel Rooms] felt like one big party where everybody was in on the joke,” Stalets said. “It was just a really good communal feel on that record, and that’s what I’m chasing after in my music. I want to be able to hit everybody with my music, no matter who they are.
“I did a show in Cleveland recently and this kid came up to me afterward and said, ‘These characters in your songs, it’s like I know them.’ That was a great compliment.”
Local attorney and Toledo music scene regular Larry Meyer used to book Stalets at the Ohio Theatre Folk Festival, which ran from 2015 to 2016. Meyer is a big fan of Stalets and helps promote his shows.
“Ben is a great storyteller, and he just has a really unique voice in music,” Meyer said. “The stories Ben tells in between songs really mean something, and I think that’s just different. That’s his niche. He found something that sets him apart from a lot of what other people are doing but it’s still very much in the folk music tradition.”
First Published February 24, 2023, 2:00 p.m.
