The songs on Mirepoix & Smoke are barely accompanied by more than Weaver's guitar or banjo and his voice, lending the record a much more stripped-down sound than his previous works. The songs were all recorded live over the course of two days with emphasis placed squarely on the rawness of Weaver's performances. Engineered, mixed and co-produced by Neil Strauch (Bonnie "Prince" Billy, Margot and the Nuclear So and So's) alongside Weaver, "this record is about me, my story, who I am and how it all keeps evolving," Ben says. "This time my voice and the words were the most important consideration when it came time to making production decisions."

For Weaver this latest effort came from a somewhat unexpected series of life choices and experiences. In the spring of 2009 Weaver decided to take some time away from touring to pursue his interest in food and cooking. It was while working as a prep cook at a farm-to-table restaurant in Minneapolis that the songs on Mirepoix and Smoke started to take shape. "Eventually the good songs started to come," says Weaver. "Ones that felt real, had their own legs. They came like all good things do: when I ceased looking. Connected to my surroundings, my past, my life, for what it all was, without romanticizing what I thought it should or could be."

In addition to his recording career Ben Weaver has published two poetry collections—2007's Hand Me Downs Can Be Haunted and 2008's The Talking Comes Later—and most recently won the 2009 What Light Grand Jury Prize for his poem "Devastations." Weaver's short story "Humaneque" was included in the anthology Amplified: Fiction from Leading Alt-County, Indie Rock and Folk Musicians alongside works by Jim White, Parry Larkin, Rhett Miller, Laura Veirs, Mary Gauthier and others. Weaver is currently working on a third poetry collection, tentatively due in 2011.