.0oCultures—s—scy#_e"a—"HaP>_«lHSWWH-WTA

Sam Weber rocks PG pub

Kelley Warre
Multimedia Coordinator

inding a stress-release during the
Foncster is important for students’ sanity.
I decided to go check out Sam Weber play at
Nancy O’s on September 10. The 21 year old
songwriter from Victoria had just released
his first album, Shadows in the Road, eight days
prior and was touring around to promote
it. I was fortunate enough to not only get to
watch him play, but to also chat with him
on his way up to Prince George about music,
guitars, and life.

“l’ve played guitar for many years, and for

a long time I considered myself a guitar
player,” Weber said, “that was my thing. But
now I kind of define myself as a songwriter
mostly... I listened to a lot of classic rock
when I started playing guitar, I listened

to a lot of big guitar-driven music and the
transition [to song-writing] came when I
started to realize my favourite parts of those
songs weren't necessarily the big guitar parts,
but the songs themselves, the song-writing.”

When he took the stage, his skills on guitar
were immediately apparent. While his

music is closer to heartfelt folk-rock, classic
rock was clearly one of his influences. It

is not hard to see that Weber is the type

of man who would be covered by Guitar
Player magazine at only 19. Weber was
humble and welcoming, walking around
and chatting to the crowd between

sets. He simultaneously put the entire
audience and ease, and received some of
the loudest cheers I have ever heard at
Nancy 0’s. His talents are already being
recognized. He was offered a scholarship to
a prestigious music school, although that
was something he chose not to pursue.

ee
fe)
9
=
<=
~4
S
cay
2
=
S
=

“T left music school because I saw that I could
do what I wanted to do without it,” Weber
said, “It exists and is a positive force for a lot
of people, but for me it felt like... when you
are creative you don’t need anyone to tell you
want to do... It’s basically an accreditation
with music school that I didn’t feel I needed.

I didn’t need the validation and diploma. It’s
not like a doctor who needs a doctorate...
that doesn’t really exist in the arts.”

If you are interested in Sam Weber’s music,
check out the video for the song “August”
and his album Shadows in the Road.