Live music on the weekends!

Playing Thursday Feb 23:
Ben Parker & Sam Weber

Ben Parker is a singer/songwriter from Vancouver, British Columbia. Born on February 7th, 1992, He has been an avid musician since the age of 7 years old. Beginning with the violin, Ben has learned to play the electric and double bass, the piano, the guitar, and voice. At the age of 15, Ben started experimenting with songwriting, performing his first live show in his high school’s drama theatre. Since then, the guitar has become his most preferred instrument of choice and he has performed throughout the lower mainland as well as Vancouver Island, even being featured on various local radio stations. He is currently working on an EP through Infinity Studios. After spending a summer busking, performing, and attending a song writing program at Berklee school of Music, Ben attended UVIC as a full time Classical Voice Major. After one year of musical training at the university, Ben took time away from classical music to focus in on his passion of song writing.

Sam Weber was born into a musical family in Victoria, British Columbia. His father, an avid jazz musician, and his brother, a talented pianist, helped to mentor Sam on his way to becoming the musician he is today. Growing up, Sam showed incredible natural ability in regards to music. He honed his guitar playing skills by practicing blues scales in the back of his mother’s van while she grocery shopped, studied his brother’s technical piano skills to better himself as a pianist, and practiced vocal exercises to reach an impressive ability with intonation. Over the past few years, Sam’s musical talents have become renowned in the growing musical community on Vancouver Island, being featured on various radio stations, performing at Rifflandia Music Festival, and also being nominated for Youth Artist of the Year at the 2011 Vancouver Island Music Awards. Sam attended the world-renowned Berklee College of Music 5-Week Program from which he was awarded a scholarship to attend the school full-time. He is currently in the final stages of mixing his new solo EP while also preparing for the launch of the album, “Light up to Burn Out” with his band, River.

Ben and Sam first met each other while attending a songwriting course hosted by Berklee School of Music. They immediately bonded as a result of being the only Canadian citizens in the program. Upon arriving home, Ben decided to study music in Victoria as a way to better himself musically, as well as open opportunities for him and Sam to play together. Over the past two years, Ben and Sam have performed in various venues in both Victoria and Vancouver. They have learned from each other’s talents to improve their own and have introduced a sound that is unique to themselves. While Sam draws from the instrumental brilliance of groups such as Death Cab for Cutie, Metric, and John Mayer, Ben blends the sounds and lyrics of musicians like Gaslight Anthem, Tallest Man on Earth, and Mumford & Sons. Together, their abilities to blend the styles of different musical backgrounds has created a sound that would be difficult to not connect with.

Ben Parker & Sam Weber Website