Ben Weaver : Stories Under Nails

Driven to share his incendiary visions with a world all-too-accustomed to mindless wading in ankle-deep pop cultural backwash, the erstwhile woodsman has moved his home base to a Twin Cities home, yet his bone-shivering tales continue to come from a dank, spooky place most mortals wouldn't dare enter.

On Stories Under Nails, Weaver and his earthy guitar and banjo are accompanied by an electric, inventive combo that employs a wide variety of string and percussion instruments to provide the singer with layered, ever-shifting sound scapes that range from disarmingly comforting to disturbingly metallic (as in a blacksmith shop, not like, say, the Sabs).

Weaver's startling lyrics arrive as free verse, morbid prose, itchy stream-of-consciousness or even knotty word gymnastics, but in every case, there's some kind of menace that needs dealing with or a physiological mess to clean up. His is not a sunny world by any stretch, but it'll sure as heck get-and hold-your attention.

Still, as you might guess, there is a strong undercurrent of bemused resignation and a healthy dose of black-hearted humor throughout this mind-bending sojourn, and despite its rough exterior, there is an abiding-if tentative-hope for salvation and deliverance.By any measure, Ben Weaver's music is unique, challenging, provocative and utterly unforgettable.

List Price: $16.99

Buy CD $14.95