"...With the characters in Mercure’s debut, listeners – any listeners of any experience – will be able to relate to them. They have seen the patches in the fabric of life and may have been roughed up a little bit; but they endure. And with the melodies given us by Mercure, it’s a bonus that you can tap your feet along with them, too."

"...I recognized the thematic consistency of his work.  The characters in G.W.’s songs struggle, and these struggles are inescapable...The one thing that seems to keep all of these characters going is their ability not to believe what’s there to be seen right before them: not so much perseverance or determination as disregard or oblivion. It is the single method they have learned to keep their struggles from overcoming them. "

"...'Americana, on the rocks,' brewed in a garage on a deserted heartland prairie. "

"...There’s enough jump and originality in the songwriting for the Benedictions to come across as deserving of their 2010 Phoenix Best Music Poll Award as Best Roots Act."

"..Their vintage blend of Neil Young, CCR, and Uncle Tupelo adorn their new debut, The Benedictions Play Devil Music, an album that will most likely land on our Top Ten of ’10."

"...It’s hard folk, hard blues, hard country. It conjures images of grizzled old timers with whiskey eyes stamping their boots on beer-soaked wooden floors before heading back out into the dusty desert. It is authentic, powerful and not for the faint-hearted."