Graham Weber,
The Door to the Morning

Label: self-released
Released: 2008

(4 out of 5)

I've yet to take a friend to a Graham Weber show and have them come away anything short of impressed. While I've managed to secure a few converts, The Door to the Morning should help flesh out the ranks of followers well beyond what's possible from this one believer.

Weber's third album and second since landing in Texas features ten songs so beautifully bracing they must have wrung the emotion out of their creator. Case in point: "Italian Lullaby," with lyrics so perfect it's better to just share a selection than to sully with a clumsy summary:

Just keep me high and I won't dwell on all the wrong I've done
And I will lie through my half-open eyes
I'm a shame to love…
But I once knew a girl who broke my neck by walking in a room
She looked just like you
Back when you looked at me with different eyes
And we fell asleep to an Italian lullaby

There's plenty more where that came from. For example, "End of the Fall":

God I wish I could go back and gather the ashes I gave
I scattered on stage
When I used to be brave
Now I curl up like a child stuck in a womb
In a pitch black room
Can't go on without you so I'll take my tears to my tomb…
I'm tired of hiding and biting my nails till they bleed
Could you come by to see
And help me to breathe

I could keep pulling quotes from each and every song, but there's more to an album than just lyrics of course. The music here is livelier than on 2005's Beggar's Blues thanks to producer Leatherbag, who also contributes electric guiar as part of a strong supporting cast that includes Eleanor Whitmore (violin), Todd Pertll (pedal steel), and Matthew Mollica (Hammond B3).

Now "lively" and "Graham Weber" may seem incompatible to those of you familiar with his adorably reticent stage presence. But there's a jaunty Wilco-esque kick to "Snow in July" and "After the Boulevard," not to mention a Guy and Susanna Clark vibe with Graham and wife Michelle on "Candle's So Close."

At his Cactus Cafe CD release show, Weber promised he was working on more upbeat material to reflect a growing contentment with adult life. I wouldn't anticipate a happy-faced transformation anytime soon. After all, heartbreak and despair are essential to folk music. But it's good to see Weber pushing his craft in new directions that can only help broaden his appeal.

Listen: "Snow in July", "Candle's So Close", "Italian Lullaby", "End of the Fall", "King's Highway"

Buy: iTunes, CD Baby

March 21, 2008