Interview: Ben K Lochen (Idle County)
The recording studio can be an intimidating environment — a ticking clock with dollar signs that runs counter to the more deliberate side of the creative process. When Asheville-born singer/songwriter Ben K. Lochen and longtime friends/bandmates Clayton Gibb (bass), Caelan Burris (guitar), Will Elliot (pedal steel), Zoë Eshan (fiddle), and Eli Whitlow (drums) headed into Drop of Sun Studios to record Idle County's debut full-length earlier this year, those pressures never took hold. It didn't hurt to have another close friend, Lawson Alderson, on the boards.
The resulting album, Long Gone Saviors, is the kind of record that can only come from loose sessions where everyone in the room is having a blast. A gritty mix of honky tonk, distortion, rust, and broken dreams, it's a throwback to early alt-country records that transport a listener to a country dive bar so vividly you can practically taste the mix of stale sweat and beer.
That's the energy of young musicians making records with friends — a hard-to-place something that tends to disappear as bands grow older and releasing music becomes more business than communion.
Long Gone Saviors is undeniably indebted to the forefathers of alt-country — Lochen's gruff vocal delivery will recall Jay Farrar for many — but it lands as another fresh dispatch from a city increasingly central to the genre's recent revival.
With the album due out July 10, Idle County plays a release show the following night at AyurPrana Listening Room, with fellow local all-stars Colin Miller and i26 Connector also on the bill.
Asheville Stages spoke with Lochen ahead of the release of Long Gone Saviors.
Jonny Leather: I always perceive a debut album as a bit of a mission statement. Earlier releases may have offered a brief glimpse of what Idle County is, but Long Gone Saviors is a more complete picture. What do you hope listeners get from the record?
Ben K. Lochen: I think, above all, I just want people to enjoy the hell out of this record. We had a great time making it, and I hope that translates when people listen to it. I wouldn't necessarily say that there was a "mission" going into it but if there had to be one, it was just to make the best possible album we could at that given time and to present the songs the best way we knew how to. I want people to listen to these songs loud, with the windows down on a long drive in the summer heat. That's where it shines.
JL: When you walked into Drop of Sun, how fully formed were the songs on Long Gone Saviors? How did the rest of the band contribute to the direction the songs took?
BKL: A few songs we knew quite well already because we'd been playing them live for a bit. "Ingrates" is a song I wrote back in 2022, and the first recorded version is on my first ever record I put out under my solo project. It sounds… different. "Wilson Watts Dr." is probably the first song I wrote specifically for Idle County back in 2024, and it became a kind of calling card for us when we played out. I would say as a whole, the songs were maybe 95% there already.
Small but meaningful adjustments came in the moment, like holding on a chord for an extra measure before a chorus, or having the band drop out on the last chorus of "Took A While" before coming in on the final push. A lot of those insights came from Lawson Alderson, our producer and engineer — and bestie.
But a good example of truly everyone taking a role in how a song turned out would be for a tune like "Heat." When we got to the studio, I only had the beginning chord progression and some of the lyrics. It was a skeleton to say the least. I finished writing the lyrics myself later on, but it was a genuine team effort giving that song its legs, compositionally, and it came on a day where we had already tracked a bunch of songs and everyone was pretty dead. It's really important for me to record with friends and people I trust because then I know their ideas come from a genuine place of wanting to elevate the songs to their best possible version.
JL: How did your previous recordings inform your approach to Long Gone Saviors?
BKL: Honestly, the only real way I know how to track and record an album is live, with everyone in the room playing together. It's how we mostly did the debut Idle County EP, albeit on a bit of a smaller scale. The same goes for the acoustic EP, Offerings. It was really the only experience I was able to take with me into this record and everyone was on board with that from the get-go. It just felt like the right way to give these songs the energy they needed. For me, at this moment in time, it's the only way I want to record.
JL: There's an undeniable live-room energy on the album — listening to “Took A While (But We Got There)” and "Ingrates" almost transports you to a Southern dive bar. Was that a deliberate pursuit, and were there specific records you kept coming back to as reference points?
BKL: Absolutely. Like I said, we tracked everything together as a band in the same room. It was the only way making Long Gone Saviors made sense. It's where the alchemy was. As far as reference points for how the album was actually recorded live, obviously Neil Young has done it — but nothing really concrete sticks out in that sense. We kinda just knew what to do from the jump.
JL: In recent years, the local scene has caught the attention of a much wider audience, and alt-country in general has been making a major comeback. How inspiring has that been for you?
BKL: It's totally inspiring to see people from our town attract a bigger spotlight. I came up seeing bands like Wednesday and MJ [Lenderman] play in small rooms here, like Static Age [Records] and The Mothlight. Watching the way they've handled their trajectories is really cool. They inspire me to do what they did, and that's just to try and make great records.
JL: Alt-country has been having a serious moment, and especially locally. How inspiring has that been for you?
BKL: I guess I would say it's inspiring in a way. For me, it's the kind of music I've always written. From the moment I first taught myself how to play chords, it's just what came out. I guess I don't want to get it confused that we're chasing a moment or something. This is the way it's always been and always will be — for me, at least. But there's a lot of people making great music, and that's cool.
JL: John James Tourville of The Deslondes shows up on "Caught" playing banjo. How did that collaboration come together?
BKL: I met JJ while I was working at The Grey Eagle here in Asheville. I told him I had some songs written and he invited me to come record at his home studio. We did a bunch of songs that probably will stay unreleased, but eventually we ended up recording the songs that became the debut EP. It meant the world that someone like JJ was so down to work with me at that time. I didn't really feel like a part of the scene or have many connections. No pretense whatsoever, just music and songs above all. I'm so glad JJ is a part of this record.
JL: The title track closes out the album in a big way, shifting gears a few times along the way from end-of-the-long-night sing-a-long, to quiet ballad, to borderline post-rock, before returning to the amped up roadhouse banger. Did you have that in mind from the start?
BKL: The song "Long Gone Saviors" was definitely meant to feel anthemic, and it made a ton of sense to close the record out with it. For me, it's a hopeful song.
JL: You’ve got a pretty awesome lineup set for your album release show at AyurPrana Listening Room, with Colin Miller and i26 Connector opening. Do you have any other tour plans lined up yet?
BKL: It's gonna be a great show. It means a lot to me to have Colin on the bill, who recorded the first ever collection of songs I put out into the world. i26 Connector is the best band in town, and we share almost every member between our two bands. Feels like a special one. Our album release tour kicks off in Charlotte on Aug. 31 at Snug Harbor. More on that soon.
IF YOU GO
Who: Idle County w/ Colin Miller + i26 Connector
When: Saturday, July 11, 7 p.m.
Where: AyurPrana Listening Room, 312 Haywood Rd., ayurpranalisteningroom.com
Tickets: $7.17
(Photo by Jonny Leather)
