Humble Night by Tom and Barb Webber
Milwaukee folk music couple Tom & Barb Webber’s Humble Night was conceived as not only a collection of songs appropriate for Christmas, but also the Advent season. There's plenty to enjoy for anyone appreciative of cleanly-produced, acoustic-oriented music with room for bluegrass, country and even what could be heard as un-electronic dance club sounds (on Night's most mystical of its 11 tracks) influences pleasingly infiltrating the Webbers' core aesthetic.
Barb takes lead on the majority of the set, perhaps sounding more than ever like what Mary Travers—as in Peter, Paul and ...—would have sounded with a bit of a lower register, When her other half fronts a tune, it's in his reliably approachable boisterousness, often with lyrics linking Christ's nativity to sociopolitical concerns. Music for the winter holidays from local acts doesn't come along often, but here's a sincere and tuneful example deserving of repeat play for many Decembers to come.
Tom & Barb Webber will perform free concerts of Humble Night's songs Friday, Dec. 5 at Milwaukee's Our Lady of Lourdes Parish at 6:30 p.m.; and at 1 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 14 at St. Pius X Parish in Wauwatosa.
