Music not only has the power to change lives; it can create them as well. A decade and a half ago, Deb Talan and Steve Tannen, two singer/songwriters in the Cambridge, Mass. scene, became enamored of one another’s work. When they finally met, they immediately began writing together and joined forces in an Indie Folk duo they dubbed The Weepies. Taking their name from an archaic term for films specifically designed to induce tears, the personal and professional twosome recorded and self-released their first album, Happiness, in late 2003, which ultimately sold over 10,000 copies without label assistance.
Four years later, Talan and Tannen married and eventually expanded their family unit by three: the power of love and music in action.
The Weepies relocated to California and recorded their sophomore album, Say I Am You, in 2005, which led to a sold-out New York performance and a label offer from Nettwerk Records. Upon its 2006 release, Say I Am You, hit the top slot of iTunes’ most downloaded Folk albums and the album’s single, “World Spins Madly On,” became the country’s most-downloaded Folk song. That exposure made the duo fans within their peer group as well; Snow Patrol’s Gary Lightbody nominated Say I Am You for the American Shortlist Music Prize, and singer/songwriter/actress Mandy Moore invited the pair to help write and record her 2007 album, Wild Hope.
The Weepies’ third album, Hideaway, was recorded just after the couple married. Released in 2008, it marked the band’s first entry on Billboard’s Top 200 album chart, coming in at No. 31. Their fourth release, 2010’s Be My Thrill, featured Colbie Caillat on backing vocals for “I Was Made for Sunny Days.” The album hit No. 34 on the Top 200, but was in the Folk chart’s Top 5 for over two months. During this three-album stretch, The Weepies’ music was licensed for several television shows, including Gossip Girl, One Tree Hill, Scrubs and Pretty Little Liars, as well as advertising campaigns for Old Navy and J.C. Penney.
In 2013, Talan endured both surgery and chemotherapy after a breast cancer diagnosis and is now in remission. During her treatment and recovery, she and Tannen recorded new songs at home and invited friends to contribute parts from wherever they happened to be. The resulting album, last year’s Sirens, featured appearances by The Attractions’ Pete Thomas and Steve Nieve, Pearl Jam’s Matt Chamberlain, Foo Fighters’ Rami Jaffee and renowned bassists Tony Levin (King Crimson) and Sebastian Steinberg (Soul Coughing), among others. The Weepies’ tour to support Sirens was their most successful ever, and their current limited run of intimate acoustic shows — which includes their Cincinnati debut — is coming just as Talan prepares to record her first solo album in 13 years.
The duo’s shows tend to sell out, so get your tickets in advance, or you’ll be weeping for all the wrong reasons.
This article appears in Dec 14-21, 2016.
