BENJAMIN SCHULTZ REINVENTS THE BLUES ON "IT HURTS ME TOO" FT. MIKE FINNIGAN AND BEKKA BRAMLETT

Some musicians spend decades shaping rock history without ever standing at the center of the spotlight. Benjamin Schultz is one of them.

A producer, engineer, composer, arranger, and multi-instrumentalist whose career spans more than five decades, Schultz has worked alongside Robert Plant, George Harrison, Buddy Miles, Stephen Stills, Rod Stewart, Johnny Winter, and B.B. King while quietly earning a reputation as one of rock's most versatile studio craftsmen. Now, he returns to the music that first shaped him with "It Hurts Me Too," a powerful reinterpretation of the blues standard originally written and recorded by Tampa Red in 1940.

The recording features the late Mike Finnigan on Hammond B3 and lead vocals, alongside powerhouse vocalist Bekka Bramlett on background vocals and tambourine. Rather than recreate the original, Schultz transforms the song into something darker, more spacious, and deeply cinematic, filtered through a lifetime spent immersed in rock, blues, soul, and Americana.

"The blues has been part of my story for as long as I can remember," Schultz says. "Growing up around the R&B clubs of Tampa and St. Petersburg, opening for The Allman Brothers Band, learning from legends like Muddy Waters, and collecting a lifetime of experiences along the way...all of it shaped the way I approach every note I play."

Raised in the fertile musical crossroads of Tampa and St. Petersburg, Florida, Schultz absorbed Delta blues, rhythm and blues, and Southern rock from an early age. While opening for The Allman Brothers Band with his band, The Original Wizard, Duane Allman famously handed Schultz his first Coricidin bottle and encouraged his slide guitar explorations. Schultz later opened for Muddy Waters and studied Dobro and slide guitar under longtime friend and mentor Chuck Kavooras, whose approach drew inspiration from pioneers like Ry Cooder.

Those early lessons echo throughout "It Hurts Me Too."

"I originally heard a friend's band perform the song at The Baked Potato in North Hollywood back in the early '90s," Schultz says. "I loved it, but with all my Jimmy Page influences, I heard it completely differently. I heard something heavier, darker, less traditional than Tampa Red or Robert Johnson. More British."
The recording showcases Schultz performing nearly every instrument himself, joined only by Finnigan and Bramlett.

For the guitar work, Schultz relied on an old Epiphone SG tuned to Drop C open tuning.

"No amps. No pedals. Just doubled rhythm guitars and slide," he says. "You just go for it. Your interpretation of the melody that came before you."
To capture the sound, Schultz employed the legendary direct-in recording technique associated with Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page, using vintage Helios console circuitry and 1176 compressors to create the organic, larger-than-life guitar tone heard throughout the track.

"I used the Jimmy Page Headley Grange Helios console method," Schultz explains. "It was developed by The Beatles' engineers and later expanded by Andy Johns and Ron Nevison, two of Zeppelin's engineers. It's about letting the instrument breathe instead of getting in its way."

The song was also crafted as a traditional radio edit, a discipline Schultz says has become something of a lost art.

"The trick is, you don't hear what was removed," he says. "You still feel like you've heard the complete story."

That philosophy has guided Schultz throughout a remarkable career.
Born in New York City and raised in Florida, Schultz began playing piano before age four, picked up trumpet at five, guitar at seven, and was performing professionally by thirteen. After studying at Berklee College of Music and the New England Conservatory under pioneering jazz theorist George Russell, he trained at the legendary 3rd Street Record Plant in Los Angeles under Gary Kellgren, Jack Douglas, Lee DeCarlo, and Michael Braunstein, learning from some of the industry's most respected engineers and producers.

Throughout the 1970s and beyond, Schultz became known as a rare musical polymath, composing, producing, engineering, arranging, and performing across nearly every layer of a recording. His instrumental command spans acoustic and electric guitars, bass, piano, organ, sitar, synthesizers, percussion, and drums, allowing him to construct complete sonic landscapes from the ground up.

One of his most significant creative partnerships came with Buddy Miles, the legendary drummer and vocalist of Band of Gypsys. Schultz produced, engineered, composed, arranged, and performed extensively on Miles' albums More Miles Per Gallon and Bicentennial Gathering of the Tribes, helping shape two ambitious recordings that blended rock, funk, soul, and psychedelia.
"Buddy used to tell me, 'I don't want to hear it. I want to feel it,'" Schultz recalls. "I've carried that with me my whole life."

By seventeen, Schultz was already sharing unforgettable moments with the artists who defined an era. During one performance, B.B. King placed Lucille into Schultz's hands in front of a live audience and told the crowd, "I'm gonna hand this young man Lucille and go get a scotch and soda."

His career would continue through collaborations with artists including Robert Plant, George Harrison, Stephen Stills, Rod Stewart, Johnny Winter, and Buddy Miles, along with a Top 5 hit, "Box of Miracles," as a member of Barefoot Servants. Earlier, The Original Wizard became one of Florida's premier live acts, opening for Iron Butterfly, Chicago, Mountain, Rod Stewart, and The Allman Brothers Band, while performing at the legendary Goose Lake Pop Festival before an estimated crowd of more than 600,000 people.

Over the years, Schultz's work has been recognized by Guitar World, Billboard, Music Connection, FMQB, The Album Network, Boston Journal, High Voltage, and numerous other publications. Yet despite an extraordinary résumé, Schultz remains focused less on legacy than on serving the song.

"This may sound strange, but I don't really think about any of it once the vibe of the tune is there," he says. "I just let go and follow where the sound takes me in the moment. That's the magic of it. Let your environment, your spirit, and the song guide you. The beauty is when you capture it in one take."

For Schultz, "It Hurts Me Too" is more than a blues recording. It is the culmination of a lifetime spent listening, learning, and honoring the musicians who came before him while finding his own voice within the tradition.

"This isn't about recreating a classic," Schultz says. "It's about honoring where it came from while letting the song speak through my own experience."
After more than five decades behind the scenes helping shape American rock music, Benjamin Schultz continues doing what he has always done best: following the song wherever it wants to go.

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