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Russell Barling

Ben Weaver

Stories Under Nails

(Fargo Records)

The Paris-based studios of Fargo Records have a reputation for taking in the stray dogs of America's folk and country music circles, and you can find Ben Weaver curled up by the fire.

Stories Under Nails, his fourth album for Fargo, has a dark, economical charm usually associated with artists such as Ry Cooder and Tom Waits, whose influence on Weaver jumps out at you from the opening Grieve All You Want.

Described as a hillbilly Leonard Cohen, Weaver's stark rural story-telling livens up what otherwise can  be a one-paced programme driven by pedal-steel guitar, organ and banjo.

Weaver was born in Oregon and raised in the backwoods of Minnesota, and his lyrics have all the perfunctory references to saws, mill roads, mules and dirty doves that you'd expect from a gritty, hard-edged country boy.

His band drive that home with  the raw Waits-esque percussive techniques that can only be accomplished with oddball instruments such as a mailbox  and a 'Dr Pepper sign'.

Some of the tracks on Stories, particularly Voice in the Wilderness, wouldn't have been out of place on The Rolling Stones' Exile on Main St. But largely, this is the kind of spare, intimate fare you'd expect from a troubadour who's still playing pubs and small clubs.

On balance, Stories is worth a listen, and just what you'd expect from a  guy who dedicated the album to 'the cleaner, and the guy who pissed on  my bag in Manchester'.



Ben Weaver