As a failed pianist, Victoria’s Sam Weber has done all right for himself with another fairly popular musical instrument.
After switching from piano to guitar at the age of 12, Weber, who plays the Elk and Oarsman, Sunday (Sept. 7), has gone on to embrace songwriting, producing and touring. At the ripe old age of 19, he was featured in Guitar Player magazine.
Now 22, he’s on the road with Marshall Wildman (drums) and Rob Walsh (bass) for a tour from the coast, across the prairies, and back.
“It was pretty typical,” he said. “I took piano lessons when I was a kid and I hated it. Lessons just jive with me; I was probably one of the worst students ever.
“But I picked up a guitar when I was 12 and haven’t looked back. I took some guitar lessons for five or six years, but a lot of my knowledge comes from YouTube videos of guitar players I admire.
“For a long time, I thought I was mostly a guitar guy, but now I feel more drawn to writing songs.”
Many of those songs have been collected on Shadows in the Road, which will be released by Cordova Bay Records in September.
Weber has some ties with Banff, as his parents met in Banff, his father regularly commutes to town to work in various developments, he’s played the Elk and Oarsman previously and he added some footage of the Trans-Canada Highway near Banff to his video for “Right Hearted.”
“It’s always good to have some connections,” he said.
A native of somewhat more rural North Saanich on Vancouver Island, in 2010, Weber headed east to the big city; Boston’s Berklee College of Music for a summer scholarship. Although he was offered a full-time scholarship, he opted for a return to Canada to work on his music career.
Hence the tour to Winnipeg and back to Victoria, where the trio will perform at the massive Rifflandia music festival that takes over most of the city’s venues.
Weber’s songs for Shadows in the Road spanned his career from the age of 16 to the album release last year.
“For songwriting, I draw a lot on stuff that’s going on,” he said. “Things like Occupy Wall Street. A lot of the songs, too, are my experiences.
“Those experiences include songwriting, touring, producing and life in general. The way my life is structured, I find I do big tours, do some producing, then go back and forth.”
Back and forth kind of describes a recent gig Weber played in Revelstoke, where his band performed along with Mindil Beach (formerly Mindil Beach Markets), also of Victoria.
Along with touring, performing and recording, Mindil Beach hosts The Jellyfish Project, an environmental program where the bands plays and offers up educational information at schools across the country.
“They played at my high school when I was in Grade 11 or 12,” said Weber. “I remember them playing and they had a lot of young fans. I thought that was a good way to go.”
Shadows in the Road is an album of contrasts, emotional entanglement and mercurial, enthralling arrangements. It shows Weber’s affection for freedom, fleeting love, rocky mountain desert valleys, and Bruce Springsteen.
Weber has shared stages with the likes of The Tragically Hip, Current Swell, Stars, and Sam Roberts. He is now signed to Victoria’s Cordova Bay Records.
