Sam Weber. Remember the name.
He did his first Prince George show on Wednesday night and he left the audience calling out for more and shouting instructions to the stage: "Come back for ArtsWells! Come back for Cold Snap! Get into the Canada Winter Games festival!" People wanted more of this surprise they got at Nancy O's and weren't shy about telling him.
The friendship built up quickly. First, he admitted an instant liking for the room, with the eager nods of his sidemen (bassist Rob Walsh and drummer Marshall Wildman). Then he did a cute little fist pump when he got his first waves of applause for his songs, and that tide kept going in and out all night. He would play the energy out, the audience would roar it back to him.
It helped that he plays some strategic cover songs. They stood out because his original material was so strong he didn't need to rely on superstar familiarity. And they stood out because they were not selected to please the crowd, they were there because he loved them and they felt part of him.
His intimate version of Springsteen's I'm On Fire was closer to the one done by Canadian folk duo Whitehorse - a band he raved about in later conversation - and his version of The Boss's Dancing In the Dark was a total reboot Springsteen himself would likely put on his own stereo playlist.
Weber really made a personal statement when he did Joni Mitchell's Amelia and slickly transitioned without rest into his own tune Valentina, Nevada. The two stand together seamlessly, which is a bold but accurate reflection of this guy's abilities.
He is a double threat (three if you count his Jack Sparrow looks) with his vocal tones and his guitar skills each capable of disarming an audience. When the two work together: insert applause here, thank you, goodnight.
No artist likes to be compared to other acts, and rarely are comparisons purely true, but he's only 21 and never been here before, so some characterization is helpful. But in his case, hard, since he reflects so many qualities, like trying to describe the colours of a lake on a windy day.
The key words for his presentation are "clean" and "clear." Both his singing voice and his Gibson SG are set for maximum clarity - no fuzz and distortion tricks needed.
He can hit the Texas blues out of the Stevie Ray Vaughan park, he can curl up around the spirit of Graceland-era Paul Simon, there is some Lyle Lovett country dust on his boots, and he drips with cool modern pop (the rootsy kind like Wintersleep or We Are the City, not the dumdum stuff by Bieber and company).
I strongly suggest visiting his website and clicking around YouTube to bone up on this guy. He will be back, and you'll want to be there.
