Benjamin Del Shreve Store

FAYETTEVILLE—Benjamin Del Shreve returns after a three-year hiatus with his third release “The Diamond,” set to be released at George’s Majestic Lounge on Friday, Dec. 7. Recorded throughout 2012 at Insomniac Studios, Shreve explores his acoustic side on the album. Shreve has long played acoustic shows. Now he is taking that style and developing the sound to include a full-band. “This is a kind record,” he said. “The two previous releases had a kind of ‘Billy bad ass,’ thing going on. This one is good music for a good day, or at least if you're having a bad day it will probably cheer you up some.” Filled with banjos, mandolins, violins, piano, and pretty much every instrument he didn’t play on his first two albums, Shreve maintains his salt-of-the-earth ethos that’s part rebel and part poet, the latter being a life-long hobby he’s finally found time to fully explore. Some of the highlights include “Mount Sequoyah,” the first song he wrote after learning mandolin; “Flower Gathering,” his take on the Robert Frost poem; “Southern Rain,” a tune inspired by a rainy drive home on a motorcyle; and “The Diamond,” a rootsy, foot-stomping number with lyrical imagery based on his travels from Finland to northern California and finally to Honduras before returning home. Shreve isn’t worried about any fair weather fans. He’s confident in the album he’s made and it’s broad appeal. “I hope that anyone who liked the first two rock records will like this one, but I am not attached to that outcome,” he said. “The fact is I have been doing this kind of music a lot longer and even have some friends that know me more for this kind of music that for rock. It was actually a transition for them to hear me put out a record like 'Brilliant and Charming!'” "The Diamond" will be available on iTunes, Amazon, CD Baby, and Shreve’s website, http://www.bdsband.com.