He feels lucky to be manning an outpost of traditional country music

Paul Weber, who keeps the sounds coming at the Commercial Tavern in Maryhill, will perform at summer concert series

It has been almost 17 years since musician Paul Weber gave up a life on the road to run the Maryhill Commercial Tavern. Still, old habits die hard, and at age 57, he finds that music is still running through his veins.

“Every morning I wake up and check if I can still sing,” said Weber with a laugh at the tavern, a village landmark. “I’ve been very lucky over the years – there’ve been times that I can’t talk, for whatever reason, but I can still sing.”

That’s good news, because on August 25, he’ll be taking the stage at Elmira’s Gore Park for the Elmira Showcase Concert series. Weber, who performs regularly at the tavern, has become a regular attraction at the annual concert series.

“I’ve known Paul for many years … Paul’s a great entertainer – good musician, good vocalist,” said Lynn Russwurm, organizer of the series.

Weber began touring full-time as a vocalist and bassist in 1974 at age 18. For close to eight years, he toured with Joe Firth and Promised Land, until setting out on a solo career in 1981. The following year, he earned a Juno nomination for Best Country Male Vocalist, and in 1983, he was nominated for three awards by the Canadian Country Music Association for his debut album, Two Bits Worth of Hurtin’.

“I spent 22 years on the road,” he remembered. “We worked extensively, coast to coast and in Europe, playing six or seven nights of the week, 50 weeks of the year. I took a week at Christmas off and a week in June, and the rest of the time I worked.

“I always thought that we worked harder than most bands, and on the road we had to,” he continued. “There were bands coming in to different parts of western Canada that had offstage sound, which we didn’t have. They’d have bigger PAs than what we had, and I knew we’d have to work them. I wouldn’t be able to out-dazzle them, so we worked harder, rehearsed a lot, the band was always good, and we started doing long sets.”

But things started to change, and Weber decided to settle down. “Bars that were six or seven nighters were cutting back to four nights … I though I’d quit the road before it quit me.”

In 1996 he took over the Commercial Tavern, the venerable eatery that has been in Maryhill since 1854 (his uncle owned it in the 1960s). “I kinda shot myself in the foot, because nowadays with the drinking and driving awareness, it’s tough to get people to travel,” he has noted. Still, the tavern continues to fill an underserved niche: it is a rare venue for traditional country music.

“Traditional country is just about gone, other than Legions and places like that. So we’re pretty proud of the fact that we still do that and bring a lot of stuff in,” said Weber.

“It’s a one-of-a-kind place,” added Russwurm. “It’s an old-fashioned bar the way they would have been 30 years ago. It’s the only one of its kind in existence anymore.”

What keeps Weber coming back to country?

“I’ve always loved the lyrical part of our songs,” he said. Most of our songs make sense, and yes, a lot of them are hurtin’ songs, but there’s a lot of hurt goin’ on in the world.

“It’s all therapy. People say that it’s therapy to listen to, but it’s therapy to deliver to those people as well.”

Even with the Commercial occupying most of his energies, Weber has never hung up his guitar for long.

“You learn to appreciate the fact that we’ve been so lucky to be able to make a living, and put people into a room that still want to hear you sing,” he said. “That’s a pretty lucky thing. We always joke that you get paid for something you would have gladly done for nothing.

“Even now, with a few phone calls, we can bring in great music and great people to enjoy it. I still think I’m maybe the luckiest man in the world.”

Paul Weber will perform at the Elmira Showcase Concert Series in Elmira’s Gore Park on August 25, 7 to 9 p.m.