The John Weeks Band is celebrating the release of its new album, Empty Bottle Confessions, on September 7 at Prost Brewing Highlands Ranch – a Labor Day afternoon show marking both a new record and a turning point for the longtime Colorado band.
Formed in Denver in 2013, the John Weeks Band built its reputation on a blend of blues and rock, eventually
representing Colorado at the International Blues Challenge in Memphis. But the band’s move toward country and Americana has roots that go much further back.
When Weeks returned to the United States in 2000 after years living and playing music overseas, he spent
considerable time driving around the American West. In many of the places he traveled, the radio choice was
simple: country.
The music stuck. Weeks always wanted to incorporate more of it into his own work, and more than two decades later, the John Weeks Band finally arrived at that destination – without leaving its past behind.
Along the way, drummer John Anthony Martinez joined the band and began writing the songs that would become Empty Bottle Confessions. Martinez wrote all of the material on the album, creating a collection that fits naturally with the band’s evolving musical direction.
The album is built around a simple idea: someone sitting at a bar, at a turning point in his life, telling stories. Each song becomes one of those stories – memories, observations, and confessions that don’t necessarily arrive in chronological order, because recollections rarely do.
The title track, “Empty Bottle Confessions,” reveals exactly where the storyteller finds himself. It’s honest and raw, serving as the center of an album that looks backward while pointing toward what’s next.
Weeks describes that next direction as “Rocky Mountain Rock” – music that doesn’t fit comfortably into a single genre. It’s not quite blues, rock, country, or folk, but carries pieces of all four. Empty Bottle Confessions occupies the transitional space between the band’s earlier sound and that evolving identity – one that will become even clearer on the band’s next album.
For the release celebration, the band is returning to a familiar stage. The John Weeks Band has performed at Prost Brewing for years, and its Highlands Ranch location has become a favorite venue for the group. With its relaxed, family-friendly atmosphere, it’s hard to imagine a better place to celebrate a new record on a Labor Day afternoon.
The John Weeks Band celebrates Empty Bottle Confessions on Labor Day afternoon, September 7, at Prost
Brewing Highlands Ranch.
Learn more about Empty Bottle Confessions and the John Weeks Band at johnweeksband.com.
Follow the John Weeks Band on Facebook and Instagram.
