Corridor Buzz - The Premier Source of Arts & Entertainment News and Information for the Cedar Rapids/Iowa City Corridor

Weaver of words and music

By Steven Horowitz

Ben Weaver wears his literary affectations on his sleeve. “White Snow,” the first song on his new album An Ax in the Oak, explicitly references poet Wallace Stevens and playwright Tennessee Williams, and Weaver dedicates two other tracks to the late fiction writer Larry Brown.

Then there’s the matter of Weaver’s own creative lyrics: “It started in a room the color of a dirty spoon / the sky full of birds cut from aluminum cans / down in Palm Beach standing on the dock / feeding alligators mushrooms in the sun with your shirt off,” he sings on “Anything With Words.” As the lines and the title indicate, the man willingly experiments with language.

So it’s no surprise to learn that Weaver has published two poetry chapbooks and has contributed to an upcoming anthology of fiction by songwriters that includes such talents as Jolie Holland and Greg Brown. But don’t expect him to give up music.

“I would never stop making music,” Weaver says over the telephone from his Minnesota home. “My writing and my music are two different things that feed into each other and inspire me. They give me new perspectives that make my art and my life more interesting and creative.”

Weaver, 29, says he is not intimidated by Iowa City’s reputation as a haven for great writers and cites Hawkeye musicians as some of his most important influences. In particular, Weaver notes the role Greg Brown played in his growth and development.

“When I was first getting started, when I was around 19 years old, Greg was someone I really looked up to, like Leonard Cohen and Townes Van Zandt. These guys got to the heart of issues and the poetics behind them,” Weaver says. “In an embarrassing adolescent way, I wanted to be him.

“I sought Brown out because I wanted to know someone who wrote like that. His songs seemed like they were speaking directly to me,” Weaver says. Brown played on some of Weaver’s early records, as did local singer songwriter Dave Moore. Weaver says these musicians also served as role models who showed him what it meant to be a professional musician.

Weaver will play the Mill on Thursday night, opening for Mike Mangione. Doors open at 9; cover is $7. Weaver recently finished a tour with a 3-piece band but will perform solo in Iowa City.

The songs on Weaver’s latest disc are full of electronic accompaniment, weird sounds that buzz in and out of the speakers in seemingly random ways. That won’t be the case when he plays here.

“For the moment, I will be playing the new songs without any effects,” Weaver says. “Songs have different lives. There’s their life on recordings and their life when sung to a particular audience.”

Weaver explains further: “When I recorded the songs I wanted the stories I sang to have some sort of accompaniment rather than just silence, just like real life. When you see two people having a fight on the street, you don’t just witness two people fighting. You see cars passing by, hear airplanes going by, smell the aromas in the air. You don’t just hear the words.

“When you play live, those sounds and sensations are there anyway. The words imply certain things and the experience of being there makes up the rest,” Weaver says. “I am always interested in playing the songs in different ways and seeing what happens.”

He’s looking forward to seeing what results during his return to Iowa City.