Benjamin Tod Flippo is an American singer-songwriter. He is lead singer and guitarist for the Lost Dog Street Band with his wife Ashley Mae (vocals, fiddle) and Jeff Loops (bass).
Raised in Sumner County, just outside of Nashville, Benjamin Tod was primarily raised by his grandmother and grandfather. However, at age 7, his mother surprised him with a cheap electric guitar –then his competing father bought him a pawnshop classical guitar. With nobody to show him how to play, they were little more than toys. However, at 14, he and a friend each received a Fullerton parlor guitar from his friend’s father. The boys started getting interested in folk music and protest songs, which led Benjamin to the streets of Nashville to busk.
At 17, they left Nashville together for a life of street performance, hopping trains, and scraping by on less than $300 a month.
Recently, Tod joined up with Western AF to record “Wyoming.”
“I wrote this song over a decade ago with all the nihilism and despair that came with my youth,” Tod said. “It was recorded on an older Lost Dog EP with my late friend Nicholas Ridout accompanying me.”
“This song has been requested more than any other at shows or around the fire, but it never feels right to play without Nicholas,” he said.