Search - Ben Weaver :: Stories Under Nails

Ben Weaver's records are marketed as music, but they have more in common with the Southern Gothic novels of Larry Brown and Harry Crews. Though hailing from Minnesota, he mines the same territory of rural noir as those authors, with as much a literary sensibility as a musical one. Nails comes off more as a book of short stories set to music than a CD of songs. Though the opener, "Grieve All You Want," has a beautifully romantic chorus, the melody is perfunctory a best. Weaver abandons singing all together for "John Martin," a recitation with band accompaniment about a good deed going punished. The aforementioned accompaniment is stellar throughout, from the unidentifiable drone that haunts the opener to Jimmy Johnson's spooky and atmospheric pedal steel guitar. It is no surprise that authors like Brown and critics internationally praise his work: being wordsmiths they, like Weaver, are enamored of the wonderful images conjured up by his lines and aren't worried that the phrasing of such imagery doesn't always fit comfortably into the rhythm of the music. You may not find yourself singing along to Weaver's tunes, but they will haunt your dreams. --Michael Ross