Can-Am roots rock lifers THE WEBER BROTHERS are all grown up on new self-titled LP
For their many admirers, the story of The Weber Brothers has become a small piece of rock and roll folklore—as teenagers, Ryan and Sam Weber left their home near Baltimore and headed to Canada, determined to meet and learn from Ronnie Hawkins, then one of the last remaining founding figures of rock and roll.
For the next several years, Hawkins put the Webers through his “boot camp” until they were ready to join his band The Hawks, and the brothers in turn channelled that experience into their own music, becoming one of the most formidable pure rock and roll bands in North America, led by Ryan on bass and Sam on guitar, with both sharing vocals.
Over the course of 18 releases, the Weber Brothers have expanded their approach significantly, incorporating everything from ‘60s-inspired psych-pop to bare bones acoustic balladry, but on their latest album, simply entitled The Weber Brothers, the pair offer their most fully realized and mature collection to date.
From the sound of synths and programmed beats on opening track “Good, Good, Good,” fans will immediately hear that this isn’t a typical Weber Brothers record. In fact, keyboards are the album’s most prominent feature, which has opened up previously untapped melodic possibilities, as echoes of classic Elton John and George Harrison blend seamlessly with modern production values. The influence of The Quiet Beatle is certainly there on the single “A Mother With Her Boys,” with shimmering slide guitar accentuating a bittersweet reflection on childhood.
Ryan says,
“I don’t think of this album as a departure, I’d look at it more like a bend in the river. Songs and albums take their own shape and give you their own voice when they come. All the albums we’ve done so far are like that, and this one is too, and it sounds the way it does. All I know is I really like the sound we arrived at, and it really feels whole.”
Sam concurs, adding,
“Every song is meaningful in its way, and I kind of think of the album as a ride from start to finish. There are moments that hit me at different times when I hear them. ‘A Mother with Her Boys’ always reminds me of all the reasons we’ve been blessed with a great Mom.”
There is indeed an unmistakable positive energy that radiates from the songs on The Weber Brothers, even though it sometimes clashes with biting lyrics, as on “Hello Hollow Love” and “Games.” Still, the album’s most intimate moments, “Her Love Reborn” and “He didn’t come,” find the brothers continuing to draw from their spiritual forebears The Band in conjuring heartbreaking blue-eyed soul. It adds up to The Weber Brothers being an album that marks the beginning of a long-overdue chapter where anything now seems possible.
“Ronnie always said, ‘Play every day, and every day you get a little better,’” Ryan says. “We strive to live up to that lesson every day. When you do that you find yourself progressing naturally and good things are presented for you—the path opens up. We keep rollin’, keep pressin’ on, and then we see where we’re at. It’s a good place to be.”