In a brief window between lockdowns in the summer of 2021, Peterborough based rock and rollers The Weber Brothers found themselves faced with an oddly familiar situation.

"It was the second summer of the pandemic. So opportunities to play as a band were few and far between," says Sam Weber. "And we had quite a bit of material we hadn't recorded yet."

So the brothers called their friend and producer extraordinaire James Mckenty with an idea; to take a day and record the 5 piece band live off the floor. With Marcus Bowne on drums, Emily Burgess on guitar and Ryan "Rico" Browne as multi-instrumentalist, the group had a back catalogue of some 30 songs ready for the project.

"We had a lot of tunes we'd been doing live for a while. To me, the arrangements were pretty strong, and we'd played them enough to know what we were all doing. So why not take a day and try to bang them out live? It's an approach to recording we hadn't done in years."

McKenty rented a building in Gore's Landing (the same building where he would record Neil Young a few weeks later) and brought his mobile recording setup.

"When you work with someone like James, it's a real relief in that you never have to worry about the technical side. You can just focus on playing the music. And on playing together as a band."

What resulted is quite a feat: 31 songs recorded over the course of a 13 hour day. "I’m Free", the third installment in the collection called "The Water Street Trilogy" will be released in April. Parts 1 and 2 of the trilogy, “Wild as the Wild Dogs” and “In the Tangled Web” were released over the last 2 years and garnered critical acclaim, with “Wild as the Wild Dogs” reaching #1 on Roots Music Report.

"This one picks up right where part 2 left off. Where the first one(“Wild as the Wild Dogs”) is kind of like getting ready to go out for the night, and part 2(“In the Tangled Web”) goes deep into the wee wee hours….this one I think is like the Sun coming up on a brand new day….you’ve made it through the dark night….and now you’ve got a whole new day of possibilities, and maybe some new understanding….what you do with it is the question, and really, that’s up to You."

The album comes with a dedication to the brothers’ teacher, mentor, and friend, the Legendary Ronnie Hawkins. “This is a rock and roll album, this is the kind of music Ronnie loved, it only seems right to send it out to him wherever he is now. His presence is all over this album, and this whole trilogy, as it is I think in everything we do. Paying Ronnie tribute isn’t something we could do in a song or with an album….it was gonna take at least 3, and honestly, we’re far from done. His influence and his impact on us are too giant to pay back, but we can keep chipping away and throwing more into the pool. It’s not really even a matter of choice, it just comes for him, and I think in a BIG way, FROM him. The songs on this trilogy are a testament to what he taught us, not necessarily in specific songs or subjects….more in the Spirit, in the overall way of doing it, how to play, how to cook a song and bring the heat….this is what Ronnie is all about, and hopefully, we’ve done him and all the lessons he gave us some justice here,” adds Ryan, “This for us is a constant goal.”