“I love Dan’s songs and he tells really good stories.”
- Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, Legendary Folk Troubadour

“Guthrie-esque and reminiscent of early John Prine”
- Mike Davies, Fatea Magazine, UK April 2015

“A rare combination of wit, emotion and vivid, Harry Chapin-esque imagery.”
- Rick Foster, The Sun Chronicle May 2015

“‘Hank and Jesus’ is easily the best folk song I heard last year. It has a timeless and authentic ‘Me and Bobby McGee’ feel to it.”
- Jack Bohl, DJ, KBOO 90.7 FM, Portland, OR

“Weber's writing is as strong as any in the Contemporary Folk community. ‘ Goodbye to Dad’ is one of the best original tunes that I have heard in a long time."
- Christopher Anderson, Victory Review: Acoustic Music Magazine

“Dan Weber is the classic mid-life overnight sensation”
- Matt Miner, Promoter: ‘Matt Miner Presents’

“Loved the songs. You don't have to make a music video, cuz I think most folks could see the story unfolding in their minds. Your songwriting is THAT GOOD!”
- Liz Freeman, Linden Tree Coffeehouse May 2015

“Dan is one of those rare performers that make you feel like you are the person in the room he is telling the story to. Come back soon!”
- Suzan Lundy, McLundy’s Green Room

“Dan Weber sings short stories with the exuberance of Kerouac, the economy of Hemingway, and the melodic elegance of Hank Williams.”
- Tim Connor, Songwriter

“Don't be deceived by the white-straw-cowboy hat, Dan Weber is the real deal, a true-to-form talent. His natural ease on stage and innate musicality maps a deceivingly simple path to your heart.”
- Nancy Emrich Freeman, Promoter: LilFest

“The first time we saw Dan Weber perform, I turned to my husband after just two songs and said, "Oh, yeah, this guy's got it." What is "it" exactly? MAGIC! Impossible to define but you know it when you see it. Dan came to town as a stranger and left as friend. Our audience was so delighted that we’re already planning for him to come back next year!”
- Joanne Smiddie-Brush, Flying Cat House Concerts

“Dan played a tremendous show. Top rate performance: soulful, sad, funny and everything in between. I’d recommend Dan to anyone. One of the friendliest guys you’ll ever meet too.”
- Matt Hough, Lair of the Swamp Fox House Concerts

“Ash and Bone is a tapestry, woven of songs that could have been written by Hayes Carll or Guy Clark. Listen to ‘Sarah Ann’ or ‘Take the Central Georgia Home’ and you will hear the depth of Weber’s phenomenal musical growth. In short, it’s fantastic!”
- Ernie Hopseker, Ocean Beach Radio

“Dan Weber's concert was amazing and the audience wanted more! Dan’s music is original, emotional, and his intimate connection with the audience was undeniable. We give Dan Weber our highest recommendation! (and we're rather picky).”
- Andy Granitto, Happy Hen Barn Concerts

“Amazingly new to the music trip, but Dan's stories and melodies sound like they were carved back there, somewhere.”
- Inessa Anderson, DJ, KINK 101.9 FM Portland, OR

“Dan Weber was the consummate professional. He engaged the audience from the outset both with his music and in-between-song banter and he had the whole house singing along! All in all it was a great show and a rousing good time. Thanks!”
- Cindi Hooper, Noble House Inn Concerts

“Dan was FANTASTIC!!! As a songwriter, storyteller and all-around kinda guy you wish you had as a neighbor…I would definitely have Dan back again, AND SOOOOON!!”
- Mark Siciliano, Historic Beed House Concerts

“You’re going to outgrow our stage but I hope you don’t forget us!”
- Jeanine Renne, Oregon State Fair -

For former park ranger Dan Weber of Vancouver, Washington, it was like always being a bridesmaid and never a bride. That is until May 16, when the singer-songwriter won the prestigious 23rd Performing Songwriter Competition at the Rose Garden Coffeehouse.

Weber, who had placed second in several songwriting competitions, including at the vaunted Kerrville (Texas) Folk Festival, seemed stunned when his name was announced on Saturday night. Weber sang two songs during the competition, both clever and bittersweet travelogue numbers, called “Hank and Jesus” and “Goodbye to Dad.”

Following a spirited show from multi-Boston Music Award winner Catie Curtis, Weber took Curtis up on her suggestion that he perform another song. Weber borrowed Curtis’ guitar, invited the other two finalists - Dedham’s Tom Smith and New Jersey’s Christine DeLeon - to join him on stage in singing his tribute song, “Oh, Woody” (in 2014 he won 2nd place in the prestigious Woody Guthrie songwriting contest.)

“As far as I can remember, it’s the first time that the winner of the Rose Garden contest has sung a victory song,” said Steve Ide, the Rose Garden’s artistic director. “It was spontaneous and very much in the folk spirit, since he got everyone to sing along.”
Weber had a commanding stage presence, complete with cowboy hat, which he removed for his second song, “Goodbye to Dad,” the story of spreading his father’s ashes.
“I found Dan’s combination of wit, emotion and vivid, Harry Chapin-esque imagery particularly affecting,” said Rick Foster, one of three judges in the contest, a musician and a reporter for a local newspaper.

The other judges included: Liz Freeman, treasurer and founding member of the Boston Area Coffeehouse Association and coordinator of the Linden Tree Coffeehouse in Wakefield; and Barnes Newberry, disc jockey for MVYRadio and 12-year NPR veteran, and owner of restaurant and former music venue The Blackthorne Tavern in Easton.

During the contest, the performers each played two songs. Weber, as winner, received $100 cash and will be featured on Feb. 6, 2016 in a split bill at the Rose Garden.
The other contestants also impressed the judges. DeLeon, with her passionate, crystalline voice, sang a sweetly affecting remembrance of her musical roots in “Gift of Sound” and a song about crossing divides in “On the Same Side.” Smith tended toward the Pete Seeger-type of folk song, performing a sing-along about the backward way in which capitalism works in “The Money Flows Up” and a paean to hard-working people everywhere called “Working Poor.” - The Enterprise

Reviews : Dan Weber
Album: What I'm Looking For
Label: Highway 142
Tracks: 13
Website: http://www.danwebermusic.com

The fact that the grainy-voiced New York born Weber came second in the 2014 Woody Guthrie songwriting contest should give you an idea of where he's coming from. Indeed, the opening track of his sophomore album, is titled Oh Woody, a song written to commemorate Guthrie's 100th birthday that, echoing the master's style, laments how much the new depression needs his voice. With songs that both explore contemporary America and look inward at his and others' lives and feelings, Weber has a grit and honesty to his material and delivery. Not to mention a definite affection for the iconic image of the cowboy. Do You Ride Horses is a strummed, fiddle accompanied, John Stewart-like, tale of an old lady he met who told him the story of her late cowboy husband and his lifetime love of riding horses and the freedom it brought while, even more direct, Cowboy Style has Weber talking about how he wants to buried, boots on, hat in the coffin of Pondersosa pine and Take A Liking To You (which melodically recalls Dylan's Forever Young) is a toast to a good life that references Roy Rogers' radio show sign-off.

Aided and abetted by some fine musicians that include banjo and dobro maestro Tony Furtado, the album's populated with songs about clear skies, idyllic small towns where, as on What I'm Lookin' For, you know all your neighbours and you never need to lock the door, and the lure of the open road that informs the Guthrie-esque Ain't Done Ramblin'Yet. A two time finalist of the Kerrville Folk Festival, he also has a huge affection for the Lone Star state, celebrated here with Leaving Texas with its you can take the boy out of Texas but… sentiments.
On more personal notes, Spinning My Wheels is about learning to forgive yourself, its final lines picked up in the title of the following number, I'm Coming Home, a song inspired by an old flame that never quite turned into a blaze, while, accompanied by piano and steel and again recalling Stewart in his vocals, Pretty Good Tonight is all about accepting who you are and getting on with life, a song born of his suffering panic attack s and anxiety.

Elsewhere, reminiscent of early John Prine, inspired by the funeral of an iconic female singer who died too soon (Amy Winehouse?) , Waiting On A Star is about how fame can consume you; initially conceived as an uptempo country rocker about owing money to U-Haul, Separate Ways ended up a piano breakup ballad, and is almost certainly far better for it; and the steel-stained That Time Of Night is a familiar tale about those times when another beer or the drunk, younger girl who asks you to dance are dangerously more tempting than the drive home.

The album ends on what sounds like his show crowd pleaser, the mandolin and fiddle driven I(I Deal With) Crazy ALL Day, a jauntily upbeat celebration about dealing with and surviving the everyday madness of life. I have to admit, I'd never heard of Weber prior to this album. But I'm most definitely looking forward to hearing more.

Mike Davies
Fatea Magazine
Home page for Fatea Magazine, home of acoustic music in the UK
FATEA-MAGAZINE.CO.UK - Fatea Magazine

Formerly Dan Weber still active as a ranger, but the Rochester, New York-raised singer and songwriter held all that watched in 1989 when he joined after several adventurous wanderings eventually as budding musician was permanently settle in an old shipbuilder house in Portland in the US state Oregon. Vorig year, he won second place in a Woody Guthrie "songwriting contest 'talented composers of folk songs. The Woody Guthrie commanded tribute song "Oh Woody" there was the direct cause. That number is now at the very front on the track list of fourteen folk and Americana songs on his new album "What I'm Lookin 'For', the follow up to his debut album" Ash And Bone "from 2012. Zijn way to a original way of translating the daily life stories in songs allow him to come quite varied from the corner and thereby deliver a very compelling plate which various song styles can be addressed. The love and life in all its positive and less pleasant aspects are discussed in the text of this nummers.In the title track "What I'm Lookin 'For" gives Dan Weber to be looking for the most simple and uncomplicated things of life in this world becoming more and more complicated. A lost love is the subject of the song "Do You Ride Horses" and his admiration for the carefree life of a cowboy is sung in the acoustic ballad "Cowboy Style" (see video) .The familiar sound of country music is the instrumental basis of the songs "Leaving Texas" and "Pretty Good Tonight" and the classical folk songs "Waiting On A Star," "I'm Comin 'Home," "That Time Of Night" and piano ballad "Separate Ways" the voice does Dan Weber me think of the Irish folk singer-songwriter Luka Bloom.Zijn live performances Dan Weber invariably closes with the song "(I Deal With) All Crazy Day", a song sung by the audience loudly and now also the last track on this record to find. As with his debut album plays on this album bluegrass and banjo virtuoso Tony Furtado with (prominent in "Is not Done Ramblin 'Yet"), as including Tim Connell on mandolin, Jean-Pierre Garau on piano, Paul Brainard on pedal steel and dobro and Anna Tivel on fiddle.Dan Weber is here to stay despite what his advanced age as a musician, but that's because he started only at the age of forty to try his luck as a singer and songwriter of timeless folk songs. The quality of his songs on "What I'm Lookin 'For' and his warm voice will take care of the necessary guarantees to last for a long time in today's music. (Valsam) - Rootstime

ASH AND BONE

I'm a sucker for story songs. I think that's the main reason I got hooked into country music. Dan Weber is a storyteller and this debut album has forty-odd years of stories woven into its fabric. Possibly his best-known song is "Hank And Jesus,"� a compelling yarn about picking up a hitch-hiker that is superbly written and told in such a way that though the story beggars belief, he still has you hanging on to every word. That's the touch of a true master craftsman songwriter. But there's another 11 songs here that will have you listening intently, totally enthralled by his tale of "Sarah Ann,"� or the time he got pulled over for speeding in "Goodbye To Dad"� and the discovery of true love in "Gravity."� These well-written stories are encased in subtle and sensitive musical arrangements utilising the talents of Tony Furtado (banjo, dojo, acoustic slide guitar), Rob Stroup (electric guitar, percussion, harmony vocals), Paul Brainard (pedal steel, Dobro, lap steel, electric guitar), Jerry Towell (guitars), Jean-Pierre Garau (piano, organ), Tim Connell (mandolin) and Todd Bayles (accordion). Quite indispensable. - Maverick Magazine (UK): The Leading Independent Country Music Magazine

ALBUM REVIEW: Dan Weber – What I’m Lookin’ For (Highway 142 Music) 2015

From all the information included with and on the album What I’m Lookin’ For, Dan Weber seems like a genuinely good guy. His music displays a desire for a quieter, small town America and the emotions of good ol’ country boy.

Weber has been a finalist in two big folk festivals, Woody Guthrie Folk Festival and the Kerrville Folk Festival for his songwriting. Individually, the songs are pretty good … I even got a little teary-eyed during one song about a funeral and then a little homesick during a song about Texas.

Together, however, the album feels a little cliché. Almost like he set out to try and write what he thought a profitable country Americana album was “supposed” to sound like. I could be completely wrong about it though, Weber could really just love horses, want to be a cowboy, gone through all the heartache and more.

This could be a musical transcript of his life. It just doesn’t quite feel like it.

Again, individually, there were a number of songs I enjoyed. I’m always wanting to go out and explore the world and felt a connection to his “Ain’t Done Ramblin’ Yet”, and being from Texas, “Leaving Texas” hit home for me.

What I’m Lookin’ For is not without its charm, however.

Cateogrized as an “Americana” album, that label can mean a lot of things. In Weber’s case, What I’m Lookin’ For is a country album without the traditional twang. Instrument accompaniments include the mandolin, banjo and dobro, to name a few, which give the album a nicely full sound.

The volume levels seem a little off in the beginning, but nothing a quick turn of the dial between tracks can’t fix. Weber’s got a nice voice that sounds best when simple and to the point, but feels a bit strained on a few parts.

Audiences can see Weber perform this July at the Woody Guthrie Folk Festival in Okemah, Oklahoma (July 8-12, 2015) appropriately performing “Oh Woody” and more from What I’m Lookin’ For.

To learn more about Dan Weber, go to www.danwebermusic.com. - Red Dirt Report

Dan Weber’s recent performance at Music Millennium showed off his ability to tell a story, not just in his songs, but also through his introductions. Vivid descriptions and lyrics draw the listener in as Weber’s captivating tales unfold.

Dan Weber grew up in Western New York and headed for the northwest in 1989 when, like the set-up to a good joke, he met a guy in a bar named, “Joe,” still in camouflage fatigues from being fresh out of the Army. Joe told him he was moving to Spokane the next day, so Weber bought him a drink to help him celebrate. Then, Joe bought Weber a drink to celebrate some more. Several hours and celebratory drinks later, they were headed west in Joe’s primer-gray 1978 beater car. A quick stop in Canton, Ohio to see Weber’s best friend, Brian Jeffries, turned the traveling duo into a trio, and the three continued west. After about four hours in Spokane, they decided to continue on to Seattle.

In 1993, Weber became a park ranger at Canyonlands National Park, Utah. It was then he got his first guitar, but it would be another few years before he got around to playing it. After a two-year stint in Canyonlands, Weber discovered that his ex-girlfriend had moved to Portland with his cat and decided that if, “Portland was good enough for my cat, it was good enough for me,” and settled in.

Weber’s talent and skill have grown as tall as his tales. He has only been writing songs since 2006, after years of writing poetry and journaling in Seattle, then penning articles for the Victory Music Review. Finally, a friend taught him a few chords and Weber started making music. Considering himself an “accidental” musician, who had no previous aspirations to become a singer-songwriter, Weber nonetheless began to mix melody and poetry, creating songs.
Dan Weber grew up listening to Johnny Cash and the Beatles, especially Cash, “Because he wrote about trains,” and Weber loves trains, illustrated by the classic Lionel chugging around the ceiling of one room in his house. Weber’s curiosity about one of the cars, a Central Georgia Railway replica, led him to well over a year’s research on the Civil War, and inspired his anthem, Take The Central Georgia Home.

Another strong influence in Weber’s writing is The Grateful Dead, first hearing them at 14, back before Deadheads made them “The Dead,” when they still had a very heavy country influence, leading him to Hank Williams, Merle Haggard, Buck Owens, Marty Robbins, and the whole country storyteller catalogue. In 2006, having written just two songs, Dan found himself on a musical train trip to Mexico. The cars were filled with musicians, many of whom had already made a name for themselves. Dan played his two songs at an open mic to the appreciative crowd that, in turn, infected him with the joy of performance; he was hooked.

Asked whether he had a favorite song of his own, Weber said, “Usually, it’s the one I just wrote two days ago, the one I can’t wait to get home to so I can work on it some more. The good ones are the ones that make the hair on the back of my neck stand up.” Of course they don’t all do that, but, “When it’s right, it’s right,” says Weber. The good ones seem to flow effortlessly and are finished in just an hour or two… and then are ready after six edits, or so.”

Weber’s first full-length CD, Ash and Bone, has garnered rave reviews in American Songwriter Magazine and received accolades from The Great American Song Contest, so expect to hear a lot more from the man with the tracks. You can catch Dan Weber in Portland, Friday, November 16, at an all-ages Artichoke Music concert, 7:30 pm, $5. - Oregon Music News

For ’89 alum Dan Weber, life has had a funny way of working out.

In 2007, Weber celebrated his 40th birthday by performing at an open mic on a whim. As an amateur songwriter, Weber says he “caught the bug” and decided to keep performing. One night, at what he thought was just another gig, Weber unknowingly entered a songwriting competition—and won. Back then, Weber never imagined that—seven years later—he’d be getting ready to release his second record with numerous awards under his belt.

“You should know this about yourself—that you really wanted to be a songwriter in your 20s, and yet I’m completely the opposite—I never had a guitar as a kid or in college,” says Weber.

After a little encouragement, Weber turned his focus toward entering songwriting contests. He gained momentum after winning the West Coast Songwriter's Performing Songwriter Competition in 2009 and again in 2011, placing as a finalist in the Dave Carter Songwriting Contest in 2010.

Weber says one of the highlights of his music career was at the legendary Kerrville New Folk Competition in 2012. As one of 30 musicians selected to compete in the competition, Weber came out as a finalist and recalls the performance as his “oh!” moment.

“I was on stage and playing at this contest for an audience of over 600 people, and having such a good time. That was the moment when I knew that it’s what I’m supposed to be doing,” says Weber.

Weber’s songs tell stories in the Americana style, with influences from artists such as Todd Snyder, Bill Morrissey, and Tom Russell woven into his music. Songs from his 2012 debut album, “Ash and Bone,” have received accolades from American Songwriter Magazine, the Great American Songwriting Contest, and the Great Lakes Songwriting Contest.

According to Weber, his new single, “I Deal With Crazy All Day,” pretty much sums the path his life has taken so far.

“It’s just the funny, great trajectory of a 40-year old guy. I guess I’m a prime example of the ‘never too late to chase a dream’ kind of thing,” he says. - University of Dayton Magazine by Caroline Glynn

Dan Weber used to stare at his guitar. "I never played the thing," he said. "I just lugged it through life."

Until a musical friend insisted on a lesson. "I just started writing songs," Weber said. "And about six years ago, I started seriously sitting down and getting into it. I just felt like, 'This is fascinating to me now.'" At the "ripe old age of 40," he said, he decided to debut at a local open mic.

How'd it go? "Awful. Just awful." Then he played another. "It was worse than the first."

But something eventually must have gone right -- because Weber wound up winning an open mic contest. That was about four years ago, and he never looked back. Now 44, Weber has released two country-flavored albums -- the latest this past February -- and acquired a fan base that has spread the word to radio stations and other venues all around North America. One fan, Doug "Spud" Henderson, a Portland MAX train driver, first alerted The Columbian to Weber's burgeoning career. You can have a listen at danwebermusic.com.

"It's funny, my music keeps popping up in different places. It's snowballing into its own thing," Weber said. Meanwhile, he's kept his flexible day job as a real estate appraiser. It allows him the time to travel and play as well as pay the bills.

Weber's next stop: the Kerrville (Texas) Folk Festival on May 27. He's a finalist in the New Folk Artist contest. "I'll just be the best Dan Weber I can be," he said. "I'm the accidental musician, I guess."

— Scott Hewitt - The Columbian

Storyteller

That’s just one of the tales Vancouver resident Weber tells about his life as a country folk music singer-songwriter. You can hear more this Saturday night when he performs at Park Place Coffee in Gresham.

Doug Henderson, the shop’s music promoter, first heard Weber in 2009 at a folk festival.

“I was immediately impressed by his songs, passion for music and his belief that music can connect people,” Henderson says, adding that Weber was one of five finalists in the 2010 “Dave Carter Memorial Songwriting Contest.” - Rob Cullivan, Gresham Outlook (Apr 27, 2011)

"Weber is one performer that’s living proof that you never know when a music career will bloom. He got his start three years ago at the age of 40 when he took inventory of the many songs he had penned and talked himself into performing at a local open mic opportunity. A few performances later he found himself in a songwriting contest, which proved to be the first of many that earned him top honors. Amongst his 2011 awards are West Coast Songwriter’s “Best Performer” and “Best Song” for “Goodbye to Dad.” He is also the 2011 Pacific Northwest Winner of the West Coast Songwriter’s Performing Songwriter Competition." - Tim Hirsch, Pacific City Sun (Jul 18, 2011)