Singer and fingerstyle guitarist Adam Weinberg -- who's most notably known on the live music circuit as Matisyahu's guitarist on his worldwide acoustic duo tours for over five years -- releases a new single "Quiet" featured on his latest album, Laugh, Cry, Grief, Hope (Release Date: May 13, 2022). The album includes a 32-page companion book and album cover artwork (pictured above) designed by the late Mel Marcelo, a legendary San Diego digital illustrator. Laugh, Cry, Grief, Hope features bassist Marc Friedman (The Slip) on multiple instruments (bass, electronics, keyboards, percussion) as well as the mixing engineer. DJ Le Spam (Spam Allstars) engineered the recording sessions.
The swaying odd-metered folk-rock song "Quiet" propels forward while slowing down life with a poignant message of battling the noises in our head fueled by anxiety. Marc Friedman performs bass and effects on "Quiet." Weinberg says of the song, "In order to beat debilitating anxiety, I've found it's best to learn how to live with it. I'm more accepting of these feelings now and let the sticky thoughts hang around for a while. They tend to then go away, instead of trying to fight the feeling. That never seems to work. I face it head on, it's definitely a learning process."
Weinberg's first lyrical record, Laugh, Cry, Grief, Hope, is as the album title suggests: an internal meditation of personal loss, healing, and genuine reflections of finding happiness. While he studied jazz, composition, and cognitive psychology at Washington University (St. Louis) and has performed alongside greats such as percussionist Cyro Baptista (Paul Simon, Trey Anastasio, John Zorn), Weinberg's latest tracks run across the genres of Americana, Leo Kottke-inspired instrumentals, reggae, as well as diving into family music on two songs (Weinberg is the father of three kids). The introspective nature of Laugh, Cry, Grief, Hope is the result of what Weinberg calls, "a catastrophic 5-week period in my life in 2019."
Weinberg adds, "Sometimes in life, you are faced with the unexpected. Unfortunately, in summer 2019 within a short period of time, my son experienced a seizure disorder, my mom went into the ICU, and my brother-in-law died after a long struggle with substance abuse and sobriety. With my therapist's recommendation, I started playing guitar again after a stint of not picking it up for a while. She suggested playing for just five minutes a day, and recording everything. It really helped pull me out of a really dark place. I engrossed myself in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and writing songs, and honestly, at the end of that really tough time, I had enough material for three albums and Laugh, Cry, Grief, Hope was born."
Leading up to the May 13 street date of Laugh, Cry, Grief, Hope, Weinberg will release the final single "Drifting Through" on April 29.
