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JPR Live Sessions Presented by Sierra Nevada Brewing Company: Ben Dickey

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For a guy whose career has evolved more by serendipity than design, Ben Dickey’s professional journey has turned into one heckuva ride. It’s not every day an obscure musician’s famous actor/ director friend hands him the lead in a passion-project indie film, and he not only winds up sharing the screen with one of his musical heroes, he also wins a Sundance Film Festival Special Jury Prize for Dramatic Achievement in Acting — and a Variety magazine “for your consideration” plug for a Best Actor Oscar nomination.

Dickey’s acting debut in Blaze, Ethan Hawke’s biopic about doomed Texas singer-songwriter Blaze Foley, has already led to more roles, including their pairing as bounty hunters in The Kid, a western directed by Vincent D’Onofrio. But just as exciting, as far as Dickey’s concerned, is the opportunity it provided to record with that musical hero, longtime Bob Dylan guitarist Charlie Sexton (who played Blaze’s other troubled Texas songwriting legend, Townes Van Zandt). After they did the film’s original cast recording (on Light in the Attic Records), Sexton produced Dickey’s solo album, A Glimmer on the Outskirts. That inspired Sexton, Hawke and Blaze executive producer Louis Black to form SexHawkeBlack Records, a new Austin-based imprint under the umbrella of Nashville’s Dualtone Records.

It’s hardly Dickey’s first recording foray, however. In fact, he says, he preferred the idea of forming a label to shopping for one because he’d been signed before — and still bears scars from watching the dream morph into a momentum-sucking nightmare. But SexHawkeBlack president Erika Pinktipps happens to be friends with Dualtone’s founder; that connection quickly turned into an actual alliance. “We’re all doing this together,” Dickey says, “[it’s] a group of people who all care about each other and have similar artistic arrows pointed in the same direction.
 

Ben Dickey's Garlic-Ginger Crawfish Boil

4 gl. Water
1 cup fish sauce
Lg. pc. Ginger, chopped & smashed
4 lemons quartered
2 quartered sweet onions
Full cup rough chopped garlic
3/4 cup kosher salt, divided
6 jalapeños (or similar) halves
3 lbs new purple potatoes
10 pounds live crawfish, cleaned

Garlic-Ginger Butter Sauce
3 cups (1 1/2 lb) unsalted butter, divided
1/2 cup chopped ginger
1/2 cup chopped garlic (from 16 cloves or 1 large head)
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/3 cup chopped fresh cayenne peppers
1/3 cup lemon juice

Additional ingredients
1/2 bunch cilantro sprigs
1/2 bunchfresh chopped basil

Prepare the CRAWFISH BOIL: Place water, fish sauce, ginger, lemons, garlic, onions, jalapeños, and 1/4 cup of the salt in a large stockpot. Cover and bring to a boil over high. Reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer 15 minutes. Add potatoes, and cook until just tender, 10-15 minutes. Add remaining 1/2 cup salt. Increase heat to high, and bring to a rolling boil. Add crawfish; boil until crawfish are bright red, about 8 minutes. Remove from heat, and let stand 15 minutes uncovered.

Prepare the GARLIC-GINGER BUTTER SAUCE: Heat 1/4 cup butter in a stainless steel saucepan over medium-high heat until foamy. Add ginger, sauté 4 to 5 minutes or until very soft, stirring very frequently. Add remaining butter, garlic, salt, and cayenne. Cook until butter is melted and garlic is just softened, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in lemon juice. Cover to keep warm.

Drain crawfish mixture. Discard garlic, lemons, ginger, onions, and jalapeños. Place crawfish & potatoes in a huge bowl. Toss with half of the butter sauce, introducing cilantro & basil; serve with remaining sauce & herbs.

You can include corn if you so desire.
I do not.
XOXO
 

JPR Live Sessions are recorded with Audix microphones. Located in Wilsonville, Oregon, Audix designs, engineers, and manufactures high performing, innovative products that contribute to the advancement of the professional audio industry. 

As FM Network Program Director and Music Director, Eric oversees many aspects of JPR's broadcast day. He still hosts the occasional Open Air or classical music shift, and is the driving force behind JPR Live Sessions - our popular series of live in-studio music performances and conversations.