Cheers to the singer-songwriters. It’s the John Prines and Lucinda Williamses, along with those up and comers of the singer songwriter realm, who have that way of helping us all take a good look at ourselves and the world. These are the poets and storytellers, telling tales with a narrative a lot like your own. Some of these musicians started banging out angst before slowing things down, as Ryan Adams was right when he claimed, “punk rock was too hard to sing.”
Montezuma County-based music teacher and singer-songwriter Charles Wecker is a musician who followed that path, picking up the guitar as a teenager and banging out the rock before taking a folkie turn.
If you go
WHAT: Folk and Roots music with Charles Wecker.
WHEN: 2 p.m. Sunday.
WHERE: Mt. Lookout Grange, 680 Grand Ave., Mancos.
TICKETS: $5 suggested donation.
MORE INFORMATION: Visit www.charleswecker.com.
He will celebrate the release of his new album, “Clouds,” with a show Sunday at the Mt. Lookout Grange in Mancos.
“I’ve played guitar, oh goodness, since I was about 13 or 14, you know, power chords and punk rock,” Wecker said. “Then I discovered Bob Dylan and Wilco.”
He’s self-taught all around, including in the recording studio as “Clouds” is an in-home recording effort; years in community radio taught him a thing or three about recording; and a DIY mindset influenced what is a homey, front-porch, folk release.
“I really wanted it to feel like you’re sitting down with me playing guitar for a half hour, 40 minutes or whatever it is, and so it’s all live, there’s not tracking or anything,” Wecker said. “I just went ahead and sang songs and played guitar.”
The songs are dreamy and drifting and direct – tunes that find Wecker telling you a bit about himself, while also perhaps throwing out a story that could tell you a bit about yourself. He’s a storyteller who straddles a fence with musician on one side, poet on the other.
“In college, I had a few poems published, so poetry has always been something I’ve loved,” he said. “My first musical love was Bob Dylan – who doesn’t want to be like Bob Dylan? Clearly I’m not, that’s fine, but I really wanted to go in that direction.”
Wecker also digs on the steps of songwriting, the idea that a song in your head moves from the brain to a blank palette where various instruments are your brushes and ink used to paint a musical picture, with limitless possibilities of how the song goes from Wecker’s head to the world.
“It’s a way of processing what’s going on with me, and what’s going on around me, that’s a big part of it. I feel very comfortable with harmonies, and maybe I’ll come up with a chord progression, maybe I’ll come up with a melody, maybe the words will start to come in at some point, too, and I’ll just play around with it a little bit,” he said. “Maybe I’ll do some recordings of just the melody; I’ll play around on different instruments, so, like, here’s this guitar track, let’s play some piano and see what melody is going to come out, now let’s play it on mandolin and see what happens there, too.”
Ultimately, it comes out to playing live, where Wecker’s art is given to the world. The songs are written and recorded to be heard, and he isn’t shy when it comes to playing out. When you play with a band, you’ve got people by your side, but when you play solo, it’s just you and your instrument.
“You got the guitar, which is almost like your shield, but I’ve got my guitar, I’m good,” he said. “Performing is something that comes pretty naturally to me, and I’ve loved doing it since I was a teenager. So I’m always excited to get on stage.”
Bryant Liggett is a freelance writer and KDUR station manager. Reach him at liggett_b@fortlewis.edu.
