Sam Weber

×

Expand

Jacob Boll

Sam Weber

A native of Canada now based in Los Angeles, Sam Weber had the songs for the just released album Get Free set to head to the studio when the pandemic landed. So he and partner Mallory Hauser (a multi-instrumentalist who performs solo as Mal) decided to go ahead and figure out how to make the record at home. The results are a singer-songwriter-folk album with a decidedly musically adventurous and poppy side. Note: Previously announced opener Matthew Fowler is no longer performing.

$15 ($12 adv.).

media release: Sam Weber fans will be relieved to hear that his internal reckoning about quitting everything a starting fresh didn’t end up taking root. On the other hand, he turned those daydreams into one hell of a song—“Get Out of the Game”—which premiered via Glide Magazine. Along with the exclusive video premiere, Glide commented, “With his old soul voice, Weber delivers a heartfelt morsel of indie-folk that brings to mind the poppier 70s folk of artists like Emitt Rhodes. He also plays with a melange of instrumental textures and tempos to give the song a truly eclectic and intriguing sound, and the home video footage makes this song feel extra personal as Weber reflects on the changes and passions that come in the artistic journey.” 

Delivering a vocal somewhere between Paul Simon and Van Morrison with a timbre all his own, Weber sings a refrain of “Somewhere down the line we made a promise that no pain or money would change anything” amongst a journey through vibrant, road-trip verses. Musically, the tune sounds as if a New Orleans second-line parade somehow wound up around a campfire on a locals-only surf beach, helped along by drummer Danny Austin-Manning and guest percussionist Dawes’ Griffin Goldsmith. In an instant, “Get Out of the Game” transfigures into a spacey interlude with enough legs to keep even the most grizzled deadhead second-set-grooving before launching back into the song’s final verses. Fans can hear pre-order or pre-save Get Free ahead of its February 4 release right here. 

Critics have already taken note of Get Free ahead of its release; The Bluegrass Situation premiered Weber’s beautiful video for “Here’s to the Future,” and The Boot wrote that album single “Already Know” “mixes vulnerability with a sense of defiance,” while catching up with Sam in an interview recap of the past year. Weber also joined WMOT, middle Tennessee’s roots-music-heavy NPR affiliate, to perform for their weekly Finally Friday sessions. 

About Get Free: Coming face-to-face with the realities of record-making in the pandemic age, Weber and his partner, co-producer, and solo artist in her own right Mallory Hauser (Mal) called upon their friend Danny Austin-Manning to join their pod and the trio began meeting up weekly for recording sessions in their Hollywood apartment. “Danny would come over and the three of us would turn on the microphones and give these wild, unchained performances of the material,” Weber recalls. “The songs became as much about the experience and ritual of spending time together as the content in the lyrics. I called the record Get Free because each performance of each song was a moment of transcendence and an escape for us from an otherwise odd, restrictive time.” 

Weber and Hauser tapped Grammy-nominated engineer Robbie Lackritz (Feist, Bahamas) to mix the album, having collaborated with him on the Juno-nominated Bahamas album Sad Hunk. “I really love [Get Free], don’t get me wrong…but it sort of sounds janky…in a good way! Because our only option was to make it in our house, it gave us permission to let it be what was going to be and not get wrapped up in the details, and in turn, I think that allowed the veil between the performances and the hearts of each song to be very thin. Robbie sort of saved the record fidelity-wise; we gave him some questionable rough mixes with the room mics cranked up so loud. What we got back sounded way rad.”

A particular sense of grandness is felt in certain songs across Weber’s recorded catalog. Moments that feel lofty, yet devoid of pretentiousness. With more of these moments present and tangible on Get Free than any other of his releases, the listener can effectively observe Sam’s emancipation. With this record, he assumes a creative identity unique to himself. 

In addition to releasing “Get Out of the Game,” Weber has announced new tour dates for February and March including stops at Amado’s in San Francisco, Carrboro, North Carolina’s famed Cat’s Cradle, Sultan Room in Brooklyn, and World Cafe Live in Philadelphia. A full list of tour dates can be found below. For more info, and to purchase tickets, please visit samwebermusic.ca/shows.