…about the juxtaposition between ghost towns like Ashcroft and the enduring prosperity of their counterparts like Aspen, where Benton moved from Kansas City at eight years old.

This tension between abandonment and abundance inspired 22-year-old Benton to use the pseudonym Ashcroft. After a childhood playing an array of instruments, seventh-grade Benton won a guitar in a raffle. He practiced obsessively. Then, a week before graduating from high school, Benton’s dad died.

Benton wandered the West for a year and a half working through grief, restlessness, and loneliness. In this period, he found that all he wanted to do was write.

After settling in Boulder, Benton found a home and sense of purpose within the music scene. There, at his warehouse in the NOBO Arts District, Benton wrote and recorded his debut album Abandoned Places with his guitar, pedal steel, raspy singing voice, and a handpicked crew of local musicians.