Back in 2004, as Peterborough band The Spades gained serious traction with the self-release of their debut album, Baltimore musician brothers Ryan and Sam Weber were hard at work in their new home of Peterborough, their roots-rock sound winning over a staunchly loyal fan base.
All these years later, the two bands, buoyed by what they call a “longstanding friendship,” have seen fit to do something they haven’t done since: amalgamate as one band for select shows.
“We played a few shows for a few months where it was myself, Tommy (Street) on drums, and Ryan and Sam doing Spades material and some of their material as well,” recalls James McKenty of The Spades of an earlier union.
“But it became apparent that these were separate entities. Each had their own thing going. Fast forward to more recently. We did a private party around Christmas (last year) and sort of became the house band for a bunch of singers to get up. That was the impetus for continuing to do a few shows together.”
On Saturday (July 26) at Del Crary Park, that reborn collaboration will be front-and-centre as The Spades and The Weber Brothers headline Peterborough Musicfest. Admission to the 8 p.m. concert, as always, is free, thanks to the ongoing support of sponsors, kawarthaNOW among them.
The Spades — McKenty on guitar, Street on drums, and Josh “Chachi” Robichaud on bass — last performed with The Weber Brothers in late March at Showplace, closing out Peterborough Performs V, a fundraiser for Peterborough United Way-supported agencies providing shelter and homelessness relief.
VIDEO: “Maybe I’m Amazed” (Paul McCartney) – The Spades & The Weber Brothers
Their one-hour set at Showplace was memorable for all the right reasons, but came about quite by happenstance. Originally scheduled to perform that night as separate acts, that changed when McKenty sold the idea of the acts reprising their private party show act of a few months earlier.
“That is the thing this (the Musicfest show) came out of,” says Ryan Weber of the Showplace concert.
While The Spades and The Weber Brothers are coming together for just the third time for Musicfest, there’s no arguing that either act on its own would draw equally well.
After releasing their debut Burning On Fumes in 2004, The Spades released two more albums — Let It Grow (2007) and Subatomic (2010) — along with the EPs The Spades (2009) and Live From The Narrows (2012).
Known and revered for their high-energy stage performance, The Spades sold out shows here in Peterborough and across Canada for some 10 years. Their Friday night performances at the former Montreal House were legendary among local music fans. They decided to disband in 2013 after Street began suffering from health issues, and played their farewell show at The Hootenanny on Hunter Street on August 10, 2013.
The band reunited in 2017 to record three songs for a video performance co-produced by Michael Hurcomb. Seven years later, full evidence of The Spades’ enduring popularity was provided when the trio took to the main stage of the Peterborough Folk Festival last August.
VIDEO: The Spades at Peterborough Folk Festival (2024)
Just two months before their Peterborough Folk Festival appearance, an impromptu performance at a benefit for musician Dan Fewings at The Pig’s Ear proved to the surprised and enthusiastic crowd that the band hadn’t missed a beat.
“That show was originally just going to be myself and an acoustic guitar,” recounts McKenty. “It was fairly last minute, unrehearsed. We thought ‘Well, let’s just see what we come up with.’ There was part of me that felt a little out of place coming in there with that kind of volume at three o’clock in the afternoon. Afterwards, I didn’t know whether to apologize for what we just did.”
While now devoting the bulk of his time to producing other acts at his Peterborough-area recording studio — where he has worked on albums by the likes of Blue Rodeo, Matt Barber, Dylan Ireland, Melissa Payne, and Cuff The Duke — McKenty remains a musician at heart who loves to play. This collaboration with The Weber Brothers allows him to do just that.
For their part, The Weber Brothers have recorded and released a remarkable 17 albums since showing up at the door of the Stoney Lake home of the late Ronnie Hawkins. They asked the rock-a-billy legend to teach them everything he knew, and he did just that.
Later, impressed by the brothers’ talent, showmanship and drive to succeed, Hawkins declared “If I had The Weber Brothers with me in 1952, Elvis would have been my roadie.”
With album number 18 due for release later this year, Ryan and Sam are in the midst of a busy summer of performing at festivals, both locally and abroad. That’s pretty much the same as each summer prior, with the addition this year of their joint performance with The Spades at Musicfest.
VIDEO: “Shelter from the Storm” – The Weber Brothers (2010)
“You could just jump up there (on stage) but we want to present the best thing we can,” says Ryan, adding “One of Ronnie’s big lessons was practice all the time. That has really been instilled in us, so that’s what we’re doing for this one.”
“The last time we did Musicfest was the tribute (in 2023) to Ronnie. That, of course, was a very special one. This one, playing with The Spades, is going to be very special and exciting, and fun too.”
According to McKenty, Saturday’s concert will see the quintet perform “a pretty even split of Weber Brothers material and Spades material, with a few covers thrown in.”
“It’s fun to perform in this fashion, with Ryan and Sam, because you get to share the load of getting ready for a show when you haven’t been playing that often,” says McKenty.
“Just to share vocal duties between everybody — I really enjoy that, just like I’ve enjoyed playing with Melissa (Payne). The Spades was a three-piece band. There was a lot of work to generate that sound (out) of three people. Now, all of a sudden, we’ve got five and everybody’s singing. We love that time period of music when there were multiple vocalists and harmonies in bands, that type of thing. It’s really fun.”
“What makes it even more exciting is realizing we’re going to see some familiar faces,” McKenty adds about the Musicfest performance.
Ryan is equally excited about Saturday night’s show in Del Crary Park.
“I’ve said many times that Peterborough is the land of dreams. It’s always good to play the land of dreams.”
VIDEO: “In The Tangled Web” – The Weber Brothers (2023)
Peterborough Musicfest is presenting 16 free-admission concerts during its 38th season, each staged on Wednesday and Saturday nights until Saturday, August 16th.
Overseen by executive director Tracey Randall and staff, a board of directors, and numerous volunteers, Peterborough Musicfest’s stated mission remains “to provide diverse, affordable live music to enrich cultural and economic prosperity in our community.”
For more information on this concert or the 2025 season, visit www.ptbomusicfest.ca or phone the Peterborough Musicfest office at 705-755-1111.
kawarthaNOW is proud to be a headline sponsor of Peterborough Musicfest’s 2025 season.
