Brett Benowitz on His Path to ‘Make It Right’
For singer-songwriter Brett Benowitz, music has become the lens through which he observes his own life.
“It’s how I make sense of the world and what I’m thinking and feeling,” Benowitz said. “If I’m confused, lost, worried, scared or in love, I think and feel so much and writing music is how I organize and understand the world around me.”
Benowitz channels his refined introspection in his latest single “Make It Right.” Starting from scratch after moving to New York City from a small town in Georgia, he stands for making the right choices rather than following down easier paths.
“I made it right and I kept going by not giving up and staying tenacious. I kept fighting and things slowly started to get better,” Benowitz said. “I got to that brink where I was looking over the edge; am I going to keep going down this path or am I going to change?”
The song begins with a lulling guitar as Benowitz’s voice creeps in with a hanging head as he admits that he must start a new path from the past. Strength grows as the chorus builds into the process of progress.
“This is where you have to dig deep because you’re at a fork in the road and you can either give up or make it right,” Benowitz said. “‘Make It Right’ is about saying, ‘I can do this and I’m not going to give up. This is where I belong, this is what I need to be doing and it’s the night to make it right.’”
The song addresses the cyclic nature of starting again and facing that as an opportunity to handle one’s own life by standing up after falling down.
As his own harmonizing backups, Benowitz demonstrates that he is part of the collective development and he must move on like everything must too: “Like the show must always do/like the breaking of the dawn/we go on, we go on.”
“Making it right is all about taking everything you’re going through and not letting it break you down but allowing it build you up and make you stronger,” Benowitz said. “Have it be the catalyst necessary to bring out your redemption and your path.”
As he beckons, “love me, feel me, heal me,” it sounds as though he begs this of a companion, but he is encouraging himself as a friend. Self-progression begins from within and he knows this cycle of reclamation within himself.
After making it right and facing his setbacks head on, Benowitz has forged his path and grown roots in the New York performance sphere. A key aspect of Benowitz’s success comes from his optimistic character that shines through his lyrics.
“I kept writing and performing and now I’m here and there are a lot of new beautiful, amazing, impressive people in my life who believe in me and feel my music. It’s because I had to go through that shit and dig in to make it work.”
This belief in himself audibly develops within the song. At the halfway point, you can hear the shift from hopeful for the future to true belief in his current capabilities. He chants, “To make it right” as if manifesting and coming to an understanding of this concept.
“A core part of who I am is perseverance,” Benowitz said. “Never ever giving up and fighting until I can’t. I wouldn’t let myself give up even though I would think, ‘what am I going to do?’ I got sick thinking of that.”
The song’s final minute explodes into breakthrough as doubts from the past are now gone and he belts hopeful declarations of marching onward. There is a newfound electric momentum in his voice that pairs perfectly with the soulful foundation of his acoustic guitar.
Benowitz will release the music video for “Make It Right” at VNYL on Jan. 26 and is currently performing weekly residences at the Late Late in Lower East Side on Wednesday nights. Upcoming shows include Pinebox Rockshop on Feb. 10, Pete’s Candy Store on Feb. 23, and Industry City various weekends through January and February.
Brett Benowitz can be heard on all major music platforms and found on Instagram @brettbenowitz and brettbenowitz.com.
