Dan Weber will bring his voice, guitar and upbeat message to the Raymond Theatre for a free performance next Sunday, Dec. 29.

Cheer at the end of the year is the reason for the concert, titled “This Little Light of Mine,” according to the Friends of the Raymond Theatre. The gospel song was written for children in the 1920s by Harry Dixon Loes and has been sung in churches and Sunday school classes for decades.

“It’s fairly well known, has an upbeat, positive message (i.e., light in the darkest time of the year), and it’s a good sing-along,” Weber wrote in an email. “It has quite a fascinating history. I think I first began singing it as a kid in grade school.”

Weber left his hometown of Rochester, New York, in 1989 and never looked back. Living first in Seattle, then in a shepherd’s trailer in Utah’s remote Canyonlands National Park, he eventually moved to Portland and finally settled in a 1948 shipyard worker’s house in Vancouver. Along the way he picked up stories and hitchhikers and, eventually, a guitar.

Weber has released two critically acclaimed CDs: “Ash and Bone” and “What I’m Lookin’ For.” The latter features “Oh Woody,” his tribute to Woody Guthrie, which rose to No. 2 on the folk music charts. He has toured extensively across the U.S.

The Dec. 29 concert, which starts at 2 p.m., will showcase his talent as he brings a musical candle of hope to a long winter’s afternoon.

Admission is free, though theater donations will be welcome.