Featured Artist: Levi Weaver

By
Swapmeet Louie
 – December 1, 2008Posted in: Featured Artist

Over the summer, a friend of mine handed me Levi Weaver’s debut album, You Are Never Close to Home, You Are Never Far From Home. My initial reaction was “Dude, what’s with the long-ass title?” Are you trying to one-up Fiona Apple for the longest album title ever? Why, I could break that title down to just “You’re Never Close/Far To/From Home.”

Nah, that doesn’t quite work.

I’ve been playing it since then, and I have to admit… it’s definitely made a huge impression on me… to the point that Mr. Weaver is this week’s Featured Artist here on TheFrontloader.com.

Levi Weaver has lived on both sides of the world. Born in Colorado, raised in Texas, moved to England for a spell, then returned back to the states, ending up in Nashville, Tn. His bio is an interesting read. My take on it is that he was born and bred on country music (his dad was a real cowboy), got turned off by it, then discovered rock, reggae, and everything in between, then came back to country after realizing it wasn’t country music that turned him off, but what country music had BECOME.

I will leave it up to you to decide what the “become” means…

In 2006 Weaver released his first offering, the EP Civil War Between My Heart and Mind. In support of this record, he went on tour with Kid Beyond and Imogen Heap. Both Weaver and Kid played as a part of Imogen Heap’s band during that tour. I don’t know what instrument Weaver handled in that band, but considering that he played guitar, bass, accordion, melodica, Wurlitzer electric piano, harmonica, banjo, percussion AND chest-banging on his current album, I’m sure he was an integral part of it all.

I’ve been listening to the album and can’t seem to find where the “chest-banging” occurs… I’m going to find it, oh yes I will… and when I DO find it, I’ll… I’ll… well, I will have satisfied my curiosity.

You Are Never Close to Home, You Are Never Far From Home was released in 2007 and for most of the year, Weaver has been on the road touring the album. He’s played all around the states, and is finishing up the year in the South.

Check out this live performance of “Idioteque.”

VERY cool. I love how solo artists are really embracing technology with the looping and effects. It used to be that when you see a solo acoustic show, you expect to see someone with just a guitar or keyboard… nowadays you just never know what you’re going to hear.

And that’s a good way to describe his album as well. You Are Never Close to Home, You Are Never Far From Home, at its heart, a singer/songwriter album. But when you take into account the production and sound of the record, it becomes so much more than that. I have to admit I didn’t quite “get it” the first time around, but after spending some time with it, I really dig it.

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I don’t quite know how to pin down his style. Sure, you have the acoustic, electric guitars, the drums, etc… but it’s all put together in such a unique way that, after repeated listenings, I can totally see why I didn’t “get it” the first time around.

Take a listen to the opening track, “Dear Friend.” The constant down stroke of the guitar playing really lends itself to the song’s growing intensity, which climaxes in the bridge with crashing cymbals and vocals that soar to just where you want them to from the start. I’d be VERY interested to hear this done with just him and guitar. I’ve included this song in the Dig-It section below, and highly encourage you to take a listen.

Weaver’s voice has a quality to it that changes as often as the tide. From the smooth falsettos of “Dear Friend,” to the bitterness of “Family Feud,” he covers a lot of emotional ground here and doesn’t seem hindered by any inhibitions. I love his delivery in “Which Drink?”

I can almost see myself sitting with him at the bar, listening to him spit out the words. There’s a conversational character to his writing, and he comes up with some visuals that paint quite a picture:

I never got to say how it hit me when you told me:
Like a towtruck hauling a train
In a rainstorm
Doing eighty
With the brakes out

Totally dig it.

By far, my favorite track here is “You Are Home.” The lyrics are absolutely heart wrenching and are accentuated musically by the lone violin in the background. The feeling in this song makes me want to stand outside an old girlfriend’s house, in the rain, watching her kiss someone else. Yes, it MAKES me want to do that. Sick, but hey – that’s how effective his writing is.

The line “… and somewhere down the line I’ll try to fall in love only to find that I can’t do it, without you, it never seems to fit,” is just about the saddest lyric I’ve heard in a long time.

Totally dig it!!!!

There’s so much underneath the layers here that I’m still uncovering, which makes this album so enjoyable. In September, Weaver put out a covers EP called “All My Best Friends Are Mostly Strangers” through his mailing list. I am definitely going to write and request a copy, as I’m sure it’ll be an excellent listen.

I’m glad I took another listen to You Are Never Close to Home, You Are Never Far From Home, and I hope you find the same uniqueness that I did. In the liner notes, Weaver writes “To anyone who inspired any of these songs, I’m truly sorry.”

Well, I’m not. Makes for an excellent album. What price for art, huh?

Here are his remaining 2008 dates:

Dec 4 2008 @ 10:00P, The Circle Bar in New Orleans, Louisiana
Dec 5 2008 @ 8:00P, Spanish Moon (W/ Cohen & The Ghost) in Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Dec 6 2008 @ 9:00P, Artmosphere in Lafayette, Louisiana
Dec 7 2008 @ 7:30P, Walter’s On Washington in Houston, Texas

Get the album, see a show, pick up some swag, spread the word…

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