In a recent interview with Paste magazine, Ben Kweller talks about being on the road with his family, his new tour, recording two albums at once, and escaping flash flood waters at his Texas home. For New Yorkers, the latest good news is that Kweller is planning three full album shows on July 30—August 1. They will take place at Southpaw in Brooklyn, featuring the album’s Sha Sha, On My Way, and Ben Kweller.

Here’s the defining question about Ben Kweller: What has he got that all the other guitar –playing young guys with perplexing love lives don’t? For one thing, he has the kind of universal appeal, diehard loyalty, and teeny bopper envy that guys like John Mayer could only dream of finding. And on top of that, he seems to charm the hell out of every music critic imaginable (including this one— five minutes on the phone with Kweller and not only do I want to attend his next concert, but I really want to be his best friend). Bottom line: The guy’s got charisma.

Another thing that sets him apart is his pre-mature affiliation with just about every normal sequence of life. Kweller has been in the music business for ten years and he’s only 25. He started playing guitar when he was 7, began writing songs at age 9, formed his first band when he was 12, dropped out of high school when he was 16, and fell in love with his third real girlfriend one year later. They moved in together when he was 19, and got married and had a kid when he was 25.

What’s also interesting about Ben Kweller is that he uses a wide variety of instruments—layering acoustic, electric and bass guitars with pianos, glockenspiels, tambourines, xylophones, organs, drugs, claps, harmonicas and triangles—and even more impressive is that he actually plays them all himself. He avoids standard pop fair with unique lyrical content (which ranges from talk of his five-year history with his wife Lizzy to telling the story of a kitten he once rescued from a dumpster).

Goofy pop charms aside, Kweller’s appeal might just be due to his mastery of the slightly off-kilter love song. When it comes to music, there is a fine line between annoying and suitably heartbreaking. But with Ben Kweller, that concern is quieted. You can feel free to get with the sentimental vibe.

Photo by Steve Hopson via Flickr