Brendan Benson’s ‘Goode’ Life

You probably already know Brendan Benson teams with The Posies for a co-headlining adventure beginning Nov. 5, but did you hear about his “Well & Goode” side project?

Earlier this month Benson released a 7” on his own imprint label featuring the duo Midas Well and Upton O. Goode. In a rather tongue-in-cheek announcement, Goode is described as hailing from Ireland but is considered by some to be “a returned empty” after leaving the Emerald Isle during the “Great Guinness Drought.” Seems Goode didn’t know the difference between “draught” as in a draft beer and the “drought” that means there’s nothing to drink, beer or otherwise.

And Midas Well? A Manitoba native, Midas moved to Ireland after meeting Goode at a “cold yoga” Siberian retreat.

“I remember spotting Midas off in a corner practically dead from frostbite, shivering like a junkie going cold turkey,” Well reminisced. “With great haste, I took him into my arms and we fled as fast as our sled dogs could carry us. It took us four days to reach a bus stop. When your only source of heat is another man’s body, you become friends very quickly.”

There’s also a back story describing how the recording sessions for the 7” came to be. Turns out Benson returned from a tour of Ireland with his Raconteurs cohort Mark Watrous to find 26 e-mails, 11 text message, “three rather disturbing life threatening voice-mails and two suicide notes” left within a 24 hour period. Long story short – Benson and Watrous offered to work on a Well & Goode single as long as the Raconteur guys didn’t have to meet them.

Of course, any similarities between Well & Goode and Watrous and Benson are in the ears of the listeners. But you can learn more about the group via Benson’s website.

Photo: Reid Rolls

Meanwhile, Benson has a tour to do with The Posies beginning Nov. 5 in Milwaukee and hitting places like Chicago, Detroit, New York, Philadelphia, Nashville, Atlanta, Houston, Los Angeles and San Francisco before wrapping Dec. 11 in Seattle at the Showbox At The Market.

Performing in Benson’s backing back will be Posies’ members Ken Stringfellow and Jon Auer while Aqueduct appears on all dates. For more information, click here for the Brendan Benson website.