Graham Weber is a Texas guy, a songwriter with roots in New Hampshire and he can not only write the heck out of a song, but he’s also a really great interview.
Weber and his band the Buffalo Squeeze have a new CD out called “Faded Photos” and its a very interesting piece of work. Locked into the sounds of Texas as a 12 year resident of Austin, Weber, 36, and his terrific band seem to have went in the direction of Morrissey in a dust coat on a few tunes.
Songs like “Time” and “Sweet Virginia Brown” are fantastic, odes to the Beatles and the Beach Boys and maybe the Smiths. Other songs like “Talia” and “Ballad of the 04 Lounge” can be both an Irish poem or a shameful, guilty serenade. “Sleep it Off” is just downright gorgeous.
How those songs will translate on Saturday night at New England College on Main Street in Concord is ultimately up to the artist. Weber will be playing a free solo show starting at 7:30pm at NEC and Friday at Area 23 Pub in Concord.
Sound Check caught up with the man with his mother’s eyes as he hustled from state to state, putting it all out there.
1. When you are working out new song structures how conscious are you about not repeating yourself?
I never try to write the same song twice and I don’t like to restrict myself to one genre or another. That allows me a lot of freedom when creating new work. I think it’s important to continue to change and experiment so you don’t keep writing the same thing over and over again, or blatantly rip off someone else’s songs.
2. Are you good at networking and pushing your own material in such a heavily competitive market like Austin?
Austin is a relatively small town when it comes to the music community. I’ve lived in Austin for twelve years and I know most of the people here, although I meet new folks all the time as they come from other places. One thing about my city, is that unlike Nashville, New York or LA, there isn’t a lot of the “business side” of things. It’s an artist town, which is inspiring in the respect that it’s overflowing with great talent and the live shows are important…In all honestly, I’m not sure that being anywhere in particular would matter anymore. That is an outdated model and way of thinking, and the business doesn’t work the way it did when I started fifteen years ago… If you’re doing good work and get it out to other people who can get it out to other people online, it has just as good if not a better shot at finding someone who can potentially help you further your career.
3. How much rewriting and editing do you do?
It’s different from song to song. The best ones are written and done in a short amount of time and just flow out. They may take a little tweaking but those are the easy ones. Some take longer, for whatever reasons, like cowriting, etc. I can say the older I get the more I try to make every word count and correct… and that can bog you down. It’s a good feeling to have a song to a place where you’re content with it being finished and worthy of being performed or recorded. A good song can keep evolving the more you play it.
4. How has your stage performance changed through the years?
When I started, I tried to emulate Todd Snider’s solo live shows that I’d seen in the late 90s and early 2000s. I saw him at a place down the street from my apartment in Santa Monica and thought what he did was what I wanted to do. So I did my version of his show, with my songs and stories, but looking back I was drawing quite heavily from him and John Prine. As I’ve watched other songwriters perform, and performed a lot more myself, I found my own voice and have become a lot more comfortable with being myself and doing a show that I am confident in. I’m pretty honest and transparent with audiences, and I like that. I like to feel like we’re all people and we are all sharing the same space for an hour or so, and it’s my job to make it an enjoyable experience for the crowd and for myself. As far as working to improve upon something, after hearing some of my first recordings recently, I think I’m a better singer and guitar player than I was 15 years ago.
5. Does New Hampshire every play into your thoughts when you are writing in Texas?
I have yet to write a song set in New Hampshire or about New Hampshire specifically, but I’m sure I will. My parents and only sister live there and so it’s a geographic fixture in my life. I really hope to spend more time there throughout the coming years. I’ve met some great folks and the landscape is beautiful. It’s definitely fertile ground for new material.
6. When you’re balancing family life and having a new child, how do you navigate through the challenges of being present as a father, a husband and a touring musician?
It’s not the easiest job in the world with a family. It’s no coincidence that many people who do what I do end up separated from their spouses and don’t get to see their kids often, if they have them. But there are also a lot of musicians that I know that make it work. My wife is an actor and we’ve always been two artists making it work as a team for 13 years. There has always been a mutual understanding and support of each other’s careers which I think helps as opposed to one person having a straight 9-5. So while it’s a financial struggle at times, we both get it and that is a big part of why this lifestyle works for us. Adding in our daughter did change things quite a bit. I play more in and around Austin and tour more strategically now. I go to Europe for longer chunks of time, and it has to make sense financially for me to do an extended domestic run. I do more short runs like the one I’m doing this weekend. Play a few shows and come home. Not just for monetary reasons, but I want to be as present as I can be as a father…I love what I do, but it pales in comparison to the joy I get from being with my family. I used to go out for weeks at a time, hoping to break even, and I just can’t do that anymore. Neither my body or brain can handle it the way they used to.
– Rob Azevedo
Rob Azevedo, from Manchester, has been hosting a weekly radio show called “Granite State of Mind” for the past three and a half years which showcases musicians from around New Hampshire and beyond. “Granite State of Mind” is an hour long program that features artists performing live in-studio each week, now exclusively on WKXL. Azevedo also writes a weekly music column called “Sound Check” for the Concord Monitor and hosts a monthly “Artist in the Round” style series at New England College in Concord.
