Mark Weber

A prolific performance artist, poet, raconteur and record producer, Mark Weber's solo acoustic project exerts an oddball appeal. Imagine that Tom Waits neither sings nor plays instruments in any conventional sense, and maybe you will sense the goofy commitment here as Weber combines rudimentary interpretations of classic blues like Big Bill Broonzy's "Key to the Highway" with TV sitcom theme music like Beverly Hillbillies or Steve Earle's classic labour protest song "The Mountain." Among this year's most eccentric solo acoustic projects - if only Mark Lanegan could be so daring, funny and spontaneous!