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Coming home with Sam Weber

The 21-year-old musician on his debut album, touring with Jets Overhead and his first house show
Brett Reid photo
Singer-songwriter/guitarist Sam Weber is playing an intimate house show on Dec. 9.

When Sam Weber steps into the most intimate performance venue in Victoria, the singer/guitarist worries just a little.

“You play, but people are literally sitting two feet from your face. It’s a bit shocking,” he said of Andy Briggs’ home venue.

Weber performs at Victoria House Concert B on Monday night in the living room filled with CDs and set lists from Canadian and Victoria bands.

“He’s dedicated his living room, that’s what his living room is. It’s a venue … just a really intimate, cosy one,” he said.

“I’m pretty mobile, so I worry about it.”

Weber has reluctantly adopted an attitude of just simply performing.

“I’m right here and I’m just going to do what I normally do when I’m not two feet from you,” he said. “But you can’t really do anything wrong ... Everyone’s really understanding and forgiving.”

The 21-year-old singer-songwriter and guitarist made some big leaps to land the intimate Victoria gig, and some other large opportunities in recent years.

Weber earned a scholarship to the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston, Mass. the summer he was 17. Though they offered him a scholarship, the 2011 Stelly’s secondary grad opted to return west.

“It wasn’t for me. I liked the program I did there but ultimately I just felt my time and resources were better spent here focusing on self-recording and being creative,” Weber said. “Since being back, I’ve built my studio business and developed those recording skills that I’ve utilized heavily to record not only myself, but other people.”

Weber’s intuition turned out well; in 2012 he toured with Jets Overhead.

“That on its own was worth it,” he said. “Adam saw me playing ... he asked me to come try out so to speak. We ended up getting along. We played a couple really cool shows with Sam Roberts, Tragically Hip, Current Swell, Stars – a lot of cool Canadian bands.”

Weber debuted his first full-length album Shadows in the Road this summer, a record filled with a “wide scope of tunes.”

“I recorded it over the course of 2010 and 2011. The songs I’d written were from when I was 16 up to when I put it out.”

Weber and Vancouver artist Luca Fogale kick off a short Island tour with the Fernwood house concert Monday night. They head to Nanaimo Dec. 11 at The Buzz Coffee House and Char’s Landing in Port Alberni the next night.

Weber also performs at Lucky Bar with Hawk and Steel on Jan. 11.

“I’ve been working on writing and recording every night until about 5 a.m. for this EP I’m planning to release in 2014. I’m still working out logistics,” he said. “That’s my main focus right now.”

Did you know?

In 2012, at age 19, Weber was one of the youngest people to ever be covered in a major Guitar Player magazine feature.