"Favorably compare a young songwriter to Dylan, and you might as well slap a "kick me" sign on his back. So I'll spare Austin's Graham Weber that albatross, but he's gonna have to live with the next-best-thing-to-Jeff-Tweedy tag. "Please stop me if you've heard this one," the Ohio-native sings at the outset of his third album, and damned if "Snow in July" doesn't sound like it coulda been a standout track on Wilco's 1995 debut, A.M. --- right down to the lazy charm of Weber’s Midwestern drawl. Ditto “Candle’s So Close” and “After the Boulevard”, which find Weber and a crack studio crew (anchored by producer/guitarist Leatherbag) capturing the same loose-limbed Flying Burrito Brothers/Exile-era Stones vibe that Wilco nailed on Being There. Those three tracks open The Door To The Morning with a bang, but as shown on his last outing, 2005’s terrific Beggar’s Blues, Weber is at his absolute best when he settles into the languid, twilit beauty of more meditative fare like “End of the Fall” and “Kings Highway.” Granted, even then he still sounds an awful lot like Tweedy, but the poet’s voice at the heart of the songs is unmistakably Weber’s own.”
-Richard Skanse
Editor, Texas Music
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"Currently finishing his third effort, Graham Weber may have one of next year's best albums with the release of The Door to the Morning, as he steps away from the singer-songwriter folk that defined 2003's debut, Naive Melodies, and last year's Beggar's Blues. The Ohio native's new songs roll through a full, piano-based rock sound that nonetheless maintains the subtle revelations of Weber's delivery, channeling John Prine ("Candle's So Close"), early Wilco ("Snow in July"), and Tom Petty ("After the Boulevard")"
-Doug Freeman
Austin Chronicle
November 9, 2007______________________________________________________________
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Latest Release: Beggar's Blues 2006 (independent release)
Naive Melodies 2003 (independent release)
both available on CD Baby, iTunes, and at Waterloo Records
NEW: The Door To The Morning* 2008
*(currently unreleased)
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"The songs on Beggar’s Blues serve notice that Weber is a songwriter worth paying attention to. The opening “After All” sets him up as a stern disciple of the Woody Guthrie/early Bob Dylan school of rapid-fire, image-rich word-play over simple acoustic strumming and folksy harmonica. But long before you have time to grab hold of any one line to dissect it, Weber’s moved on to something completely different. The words fly even faster through “Love and Money,” darting in and around a playful Vaudevillian/rag-time clarinet, and then, just when Weber’s got you smiling, he slams on the brakes and hits you unaware with “Starving Days,” “Devil’s Night” and, a little later, “Cincinnati” — three minor masterworks of mood and haunting, heartbreaking melody that recall Wilco, John Prine and even Closing Time-era Tom Waits at the peak of their powers." - Richard Skanse
Graham Weber has been writing and performing his own brand of eclectic American music since the year 2000. ('99 if you count busking on Venice Beach and the Santa Monica Promenade). A native of the Cincinnati, Weber began writing while living in Los Angeles. After returning to Ohio he joined the Cleveland roots rock band, The Whiskeyhounds. In 2003, he recorded and self produced his first solo studio record, "Naive Melodies", garnering airplay on independent radio stations throughout the U.S. XM Satellite radio continues to keep four tracks off "Niave Melodies" in its XCountry rotation. In December of 2005, Weber and his wife moved (sight unseen) to Austin, Texas.
Since arriving in Texas, he has found a home at the legendary Cactus Cafe opening for Eliza Gilkyson, Butch Hancock, Chip Taylor and Carrie Rodriguez, Hayes Carll, Darden Smith, Lori McKenna, as well as headlining and filling the seats for the release of his second album, "Beggar’s Blues". Nationally, he has opened numerous shows and toured with Slaid Cleaves*, and recently opened for other songwriters such as Leon Redbone, Todd Snider, Vance Gilbert, and Ellis Paul. Besides opening, Weber has headlined his own tours across the entire continental United States three times over in the past year and a half, receiving overwhelmingly warm receptions in nearly every town he's played.
*(Cleaves recorded Weber's "Oh Roberta" on his latest release 'Unsung' on Rounder Records)
Weber plans to release his next album, "The Door To The Morning", in the fall of 2007, as well as another new collections of original songs on a live album from the Cactus Cafe later in the year.
For the long version of the bio and clips of songs off of both albums please visit www.grahamweber.com
