User talk:Bentonfan

Carolina boy and country artist Benton Blount signed his first record deal with Golden Music this year without his producers even seeing him play live first. It was the strength of his songwriting that convinced Noel Golden to sign the Valdese, N.C. native to the brand new label, the reason why big things are expected from him and label mate The Williams Riley Band. And with ballads like “Remember” and “You Walked In,” Blount’s versatile singing style goes against people’s expectations when they see his tattooed, bald-headed exterior. Blount admitted that he thinks he has the “mean business” with his look. But he also said his song repertoire has more ballads than anything, and so far, he feels his strongest songwriting is for love songs. “I like to sing the ballads to freak people out. I start into a slow song, and it sort of blows people away, a big guy singing a cheesy song,” Blount said. The Village Idiot caught up with Blount over the phone before he played an acoustic set at Oysters On the West End in Greenville, S.C.