Newly formed folk pop trio Weight of the World serve up a thrilling new entry into our vast music landscape with their debut studio album Seasons.
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Breaking into the folk music scene here in Newfoundland and Labrador can prove to be a cautious endeavour. Sheer will and determination won’t save the day on all occasions. You’ve got to have ‘the right stuff’ to stand apart from the plethora of God-given talents here in the province. Fortunately for the collective trio of Justin Hickey, Terri Lynn Humber and Peter Green, they are not for lacking in the stuff that weeds out the mediocre from the marvelous.
The folk pop trio, going by the stage name Weight of the World, recently unveiled their cohesive, finely crafted and weighty debut record Seasons, an album that speaks volumes for the pedigree of all parties involved.
“There’s bits and pieces everywhere,” Green shared of the album in a stidown with The Herald and the makeup of the band. “Overall it’s a pretty folky, Fortunate Ones kind of vibe. There’s definitely a lot of Newfoundland influence. There’s trad stuff, rock stuff and everywhere in between.”
Green, Hickey and Humber came together through mutual friends within the scene and the convenience of residing in the downtown core of St. John’s, where it is not uncommon to find the bulk of our island’s music elite on a routine basis. All three share the common thread of being raised through musically inclined families, with Humber sharing that “literally everyone in my family plays an instrument.”
Green and Hickey likewise know one another through their mutual side projects – Green recently took up a role within iconic trad group Masterless Men, while Hickey similarly doubles down as a member of The Irish Descendants. Talk about a resume that breeds success.
“Con O’Brien fronts the Irish Descendants as you know. Every time I’m on stage with him I’m just absorbing and soaking in whatever he’s doing. He’s an incredible storyteller and sings like a bird. I really do, I find myself pretty mesmerized certain times and I feel like I’m in the audience watching him as well,” Hickey shared, noting that it’s impossible not to be inspired by the wealth of musical experience he is submerged in routinely, something that Green can attest.
“It definitely has raised the standard of what we think is good,” adds Humber. “I’ll play something and it’s like ‘not good enough, we can make that better.’ Our standard is really high.”
Still, all the guidance and reps drilled in with the island’s music elite would be for not if the three involved in Weight of the World lacked in their own ingenuity and creative ambition. All hands are on deck when it comes to the creative process, which is perhaps what lends to the polished finshed product of an album that is mature beyond its years.
“We all kind of contribute on the process,” Hickey shared. “I’ll come up with an idea just out of my head and run it past Terri Lynn and we’ll flesh it out. Peter will come in and help arrange it and structure the song. We all contribute in different ways but it all helps the overall outcome.”
Seasons is set for an official release at the Quidi Vidi Brewery in St. John’s on March 8th, a venue that will provide the suitable intimate and interactive setting an album of this nature demands. What lies ahead is far from pre-determined, though the possibilities are plentiful.
“We’re all professional musicians. This is what we do,” Green said. “If anything can come out of it at all that would be great.
“It’s like watching your baby grow,” Hickey adds. “You don’t really know how it’s going to turn out and it’s a gamble but its fun to be creative.”
Tickets for the ‘Seasons’ release show are sold out! For me on the band visit their official Twitter or Facebook or contact them via email at weightoftheworldnl@gmail.com