 by Rob van Alstyne
The clichéd term “old soul” was invented for people like Ben Weaver. All of 24, the world weary tunes on his just released third album, Stories Under Nails, sound like the work of a man more than twice his age. His voice is a weathered croak (think a slightly less carnival-spooky Tom Waits) and the tales it tells—of murderous strangers, lonesome travelers and betrayed lovers—ring so authentically true that it feels like Weaver must have been enrolled in the school of hard knocks by the age of 10 in order to have accumulated enough life experience to pen them.
Download an mp3 of Ben Weaver’s song 40 Watt Bulb.
Weaver’s spectral acoustic guitar and banjo are flushed out by an esteemed
crew of Twin Cities vets on Stories (among them Honeydogs’ keyboardist
Pete Sands, Missing Numbers main man Jimmy Peterson and the Rank Strangers’
Mike Wisti) and the textures they add to Weaver’s stories of woe (among
them pedal steel, bouzouki, glock and national steel guitar) are a true revelation.
“I think a lot of the feel of the record comes from the fact that we recorded
the whole thing in like a day and a half in Wisti’s living room,”
offers Weaver over an early evening pint. “It was cut live and we purposely
did it with just one rehearsal before we were recording. Most people didn’t
really know the songs and I think that really brought a lot of the ambient nature
to it—no one really knew what the fuck they were doing, everyone was just
trying to stay in the right key. I think that worked really well because no
one was overplaying and that simplicity does a lot.”
Though the music may be relatively simple (a blend of folksy waltzes, death
howl blues and sublime country pickin’), the words which Weaver sets to
them are anything but. A truly literary talent (and personal favorite of renowned
modern author Larry Brown who’s gone so far as to bring Weaver along to
perform on his book reading tours), Weaver is that increasingly rare commodity
in today’s a music scene—a completely fearless songwriter. Every
clever phrase Weaver drops—and there are plenty (sample: “Some people
are like God / They really don’t exist”) serves a purpose beyond
flash, always furthering his songs’ stark narratives.
“For me music’s always been about what people are saying in their
songs,” offers Weaver when asked to explain the literary bent of his songwriting.
“Music is really just a mechanism to carry that. That’s what’s
so amazing about music when you think about it compared to literature. How many
people do you know who’ll sit down and read a book twice? Not very many—but
people will listen to a song over and over again and you can relive the stories
and ideas connected to a song so much more often. I’ve tried to write
stories, but I’m not very good at it. For some reason it’s much
easier for me to try and cram a chapter into one line and then put those 15
lines together to make a song. I’d like to write a story someday, but
not today.”
For today Weaver is content to write his songs—and present them on a global
scale. In a strange twist that has become all too commonplace in today’s
musical climate, Weaver’s piercing song craft has nearly made him a star
overseas while he still remains a relative unknown in his own backyard. He lives
perpetually on tour and frequently abroad—I’m chatting with him
after he’s just returned from a headlining tour of Australia and he was
recently prominently featured in prestigious U.K. music magazine Uncut as one
of their Americana artists of the year.
The overseas success has enabled Weaver to give up his day job, but his dream
still remains to find similar acclaim stateside (to that end he’s already
set to hit the road for another extended stretch in the U.S. after Stories
Under Nails hits the street). Weaver’s commitment to his muse is unwavering,
and a palpable intensity comes over his voice when our interview comes to a
close and I ask him about his future musical goals. “[Acclaimed cult director]
John Water’s once said that if he had never found film he’d be up
on a building somewhere shooting pedestrians—I really identify with that.
My biggest dream as far as being romantic about music was just being able to
travel and play the songs I was writing. And I do want to be successful, I want
to have a house and support a family eventually—but I’ve never wanted
to be famous. I just want to do what I do and have some success with it. For
me my songs are like someone cutting my vein—I bleed. It’s my life.
The world doesn’t make sense to me without them.”
Ben Weaver plays his CD release show for Stories Under Nails on Fri.,
Oct. 1, at The Turf Club with Mike Gunther and Graham Lindsey. 9 p.m. 21+. $5.
The Corner of University and Snelling Ave., St. Paul. 651-647-0486.
Check out Ben Weaver on his official
website.
Download an mp3 of Ben Weaver’s song 40 Watt Bulb.
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