John K. Samson has always been there for me.<\/p>\n
I had never met the Canadian singer\/songwriter before calling him ahead of his Nov. 25 show at High Noon Saloon<\/a>, but I\u2019ve spent countless hours with Samson\u2019s art. His legendary indie rock act The Weakerthans is one of my all-time favorite bands and a constant source of reassurance to a punk-loving college student prone to extended bouts of melancholy. \u201cVirtute the Cat Explains Her Departure<\/a>\u201d can still reduce me into a sobbing heap 12 years later.<\/p>\n The Weakerthans may be \u201ccryogenically frozen,\u201d as Samson puts it, but he\u2019s continued to release music as a solo artist. The two albums under his own name \u2014 2012\u2019s Provincial<\/em> and 2016\u2019s Winter Wheat<\/em> \u2014 are packed with perceptive character sketches set in his hometown of Winnipeg, Manitoba. In other words, quintessential Samson.<\/p>\n