Del Barber

Artist Information

Biography

Born and raised on the Manitoba prairie, Del Barber has found a new home on stage, winning audiences across Canada and the United States with raw talent and ample doses of charm. With wide-eyed ambition and a work ethic second to none, in two short years, Barber has released two full length records and found the time to tour coast to coast twice, playing well over 300 dates everywhere from Halifax to Albuquerque.

At just 26 years old, Barber's road tested collection of tunes are just beginning make their mark on Canada's competitive roots scene. Barber's first official release, Where the City Ends (April 2009) was his first foray outside his home audience of Southern Manitoba. This August, 2010, Where the City Ends was nominated for a Western Canadian Music Award for roots solo Album of the Year. With the release of his sophomore record, Love Songs For The Last Twenty (June 2010) Barber has maintained a frequent presence on college radio and has been climbing roots charts across the country. This July Barber hit the well trodden stages of the famed Winnipeg Folk Festival as a tour-de-force, making an impression that could not be ignored. One of the top sellers at the festival, moving over 350 records and winning the hearts of his home-town crowd, Barber has quickly transformed from an almost unknown singer-songwriter into an artist in demand.

In the spirit of legends like Townes Van Zandt, Greg Brown, and John Prine, Del Barber dreams new life into old forms with a cutting sense of humour, a hint of cynicism, and songs that span the gulf between the sacred and the profane. Drawing from the rich well of the roots tradition, Barber's capacity to weave experiences and characters stems from a keen understanding of narrative, phrasing and metaphor, which get tied together by Barber's polished finger-style guitar work, warm home town melodies and his inviting and intoxicating personality.

Barber's presence on stage is electric, wandering seamlessly from song into story, painting diverse scenes of home, hardship, comedy, love and loss. The Winnipeg Free Press has called Barber's Love Songs For the Last Twenty “As sincere and heartfelt as the day is long”. Named as “Winnipeg's Finest Songwriter” by CKUW veteran Darren Day, and quoted as having “That Woody Guthrie Wanderlust” by Mitch Podolak of Home Routes, Barber is the latest promising young songwriter to emerge from the fertile musical breeding grounds of Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Instrumentation

Del Barber: Guitar/Vocals/Harmonica/Mandolin/Banjo

Discography

Where The City Ends
release date April 10th 2009

Love Songs for the Last 20
Release Date June 11 2010

Audio

• As Far As I Can Tell
  Listen  
• Miles And Years
  Listen  

Video

Photo Gallery

Press

• Del Barber @ CMW 2011 Review [+ Show ]
  

  Background/Composition: Del Barber played The Garrison on Friday night as part of CMW's Manitoba Mu...Background/Composition:
  Del Barber played The Garrison on Friday night as part of CMW's Manitoba Music Showcase. The Winnipeg singer/songwriter's Love Songs For The Last Twenty sophomore album was released in June 2010 and has been nominated for a 2011 Juno Award.
  
  Grade: 82
  
  Comment:
  Barber's rootsy guitar sound was surprisingly fresh, as were his candid lyrics about both everyday and extraordinary occurrences. His clear, bright vocals and easy sense of humour made the 27-year-old prairie-born artist a true pleasure to watch.
  
  Achievement of Rock 'n' Roll Expectations
  80-100: Exceeds skill and knowledge expectations, i.e. rocked us so hard we peed our pants.
  70-79: Achieves required skills and knowledge. Meets rock 'n' roll standard.
  60-69: Demonstrates some skills. Approaches rock 'n' roll standard.
  50-59: Demonstrates some required skills and knowledge in a limited way.
  00-50: Has not demonstrated required skills or knowledge.
  
  Learning Skills: E=Excellent, G=Good, S=Satisfactory, N=Sad Really
  
  Oral And Visual Communication
  Eye Contact: E
  Pronunciation: E
  Stage Presence: G
  Stage Banter: E
  Image: G
  Appearance: G
  Use Of Stage: S
  
  Strengths/Weaknesses/Next Step:
  Barber's connectedness with the audience stretched far beyond what one might expect from a solo performer. His cheeky banter and magnetic wit helped reaffirm that although Barber confessed, "I wish I was playing with my friends tonight."
  
  Barber played his set with no additional musicians — his own chops and presence were more than enough to keep the Garrison's patrons tapping their toes.
  
  Musical Analysis
  Level Of Participation: E
  Problem Solving: E
  Teamwork: N/A
  Work Habits: G
  Organization: G
  Audience Participation: G
  Sound: E
  Composition: E
  Songs: G
  
  Strengths/Weaknesses/Next Step:
  Barber's delicate fingerpicking style and warm vocals filled The Garrison with rich sound. His expressive lyrics, with lines like "His laugh could hit the sky/He could smell how you were feeling" ("62 Richmond"), made the listener feel as though he or she knew the characters in each song. The multi-instrumentalist left the stage on a humorous note with "The Party Song," a dream-inspired track from his 2010 Where The City Ends LP.
  
  Other Skills And Areas Of Interest
  Charisma: G
  Problem Solving: G
  Teamwork: E
  Sexiness: G
  Haircut: G
  Indie Rock Footwear: G
  Nods To Disposable Fashion: E
  Cool Equipment: G
  Level Of Inebriation: G
  Actual Ability: E
  
  Strengths/Weaknesses/Next Step:
  Barber's tasteful, western button-up shirt and elegant guitar (which, he told me via Twitter, is a 1992 Gibson J-45 made in Montana) contrasted sharply with his boyish bedhead. The artist successfully brought together the old and the new by drawing on traditional country and folk while endearing himself to a modern audience.
  
  

• Barber's in the Juno Race [+ Show ]
  

  First-time Juno Award nominee Del Barber was shocked to learn his album Love Songs For The Last Tw...
  First-time Juno Award nominee Del Barber was shocked to learn his album Love Songs For The Last Twenty was shortlisted for best roots and traditional solo album.
  
  "I did not see it coming," said the 27-year-old.
  
  Barber learned about his nomination on CBC Radio while driving to Edmonton, which explained to him why his BlackBerry was being flooded with congratulatory notes.
  
  Before hearing the announcement on radio, he called his mother to find out what the messages were about, but the phone call dropped before she could tell him.
  
  Barber had sent his album to the Junos on a whim, and borrowed money from his parents for the application.
  
  Love Songs For The Last Twenty is about home and what it means to be anchored to a place.
  
  Growing up, Barber watched Winnipeg grow into his home town, a French community called St. Norbert.
  
  "Every time I go home, I'm surprised how much it has changed," said Barber, who is on the road for eight months of the year.
  
  Barber recently finished a tour of the Yukon, which turned out to be quite the adventure. After playing in Dawson City, Barber was invited to go dog sledding.
  
  "When we were getting the ropes set up, the dogs were yelping with excitement to get going," said Barber. "But once we got moving along the river, they were absolutely quiet. It was like sailing."
  
  Barber also played in Mayo, which is south of Whitehorse.
  
  "All the pipes in my hotel were frozen, so there was no water in my hotel room," said Barber. "It was definitely their off-season."
  
  Barber was in the Yukon on a tour organized by Home Routes, an association that arranges concert series performed to audiences in people's living rooms.
  
  "There's so much intimacy," said Barber. "The people are sitting so close you might accidentally spit on them."
  
  Through Home Routes, Barber was able to travel into the Arctic Circle to Old Crow, a fly-in-only Yukon community.
  
  "It was amazing," said Barber, who drove up the Alaska Highway towards Whitehorse by himself.
  
  Barber always travels alone as a one-man musician and said it is lonely on the road, so he enjoyed the level of human connections on his Home Routes tour through the Yukon.
  
  Barber, a third cousin of blues-rocker Colin James, grew into his musical career gradually.
  
  He played in bands while in high school, and, when he went to college in Chicago, he started playing open mics, which eventually led to bar gigs.
  
  Barber returned to Winnipeg to make his first album, Where the City Ends.
  
  "I wondered what I should I do, and realized I should maybe take it on tour," said Barber.
  
  His CDs began to sell very well.
  
  Last year, at the Winnipeg Folk Festival, he sold over 400.
  
  "I thought 50 would be amazing," he said. With a Juno nomination, Barber has agents and managers approaching him now.
  
  "I'm open to them," he said. "But I want to maintain my freedom."
  
  Del Barber
  
  Tonight
  
  The Club
  
  © Copyright (c) The Regina Leader-Post
  
  
  Read more: http://www.leaderpost.com/entertainment/Barber+Juno+race/4375110/story.html#ixzz1Gb5JvOq0

• Five local Artists up for Juno Awards [+ Show ]
  

  DEL Barber wasn't sure why his phone kept ringing Tuesday morning. The local singer-songwriter wa...DEL Barber wasn't sure why his phone kept ringing Tuesday morning.
  
  The local singer-songwriter was on the Yellowhead Highway driving to the Yukon for a tour when his BlackBerry started buzzing non-stop.
  
  "I started getting alerts. I just got a BlackBerry, which I'm very poor at using. I had someone help me connect to all my social media outlets, so I started getting messages saying congratulations and I didn't know what it was for. I called my sister and she didn't know what was going on, then through the minutiae I started adding up the facts before someone just came out and said it: "You're nominated for a Juno," he said.
  
  Specifically, Barber's independent sophomore album, Love Songs for the Last Twenty, was named a Juno Award nominee in the roots & traditional album of the year: solo category.
  
  "I feel like the ultimate underdog," says the first time nominee. "I have no record label. I don't even have a website. It's very humbling to get a nod like that."
  
  The 27-year-old was one of five local artists and numerous expats whose names were read during the Juno nomination press conference in Toronto Tuesday.
  
  Facing off against Barber in the solo roots album category is Wailin' Jennys member Ruth Moody, who received a nod for her debut solo album The Garden.
  
  "I'm very excited. It's wonderful to have something recognized in this way, and it's really a bit different because it's a solo album. I'm thrilled and I'm honoured and I'm a fan of all of the songwriters in this category: Justin (Rutledge), Lynn (Miles), Old Man Luedecke and Del. I just think that is some über talent," said a cheerful Moody, 35, who was told of the announcement by her producer David Travers-Smith, also a nominee in the recording engineer of the year category, in part for his work on her album.
  
  Other local artists up for Junos are a capella group Chic Gamine for roots & traditional album of the year: group for their sophomore release, City City; and Eagle & Hawk and Little Hawk, who will face off against each other in the aboriginal album of the year category for Rising Sun and Vigilance, respectively.
  
  Moody won a Juno for her work with the Wailin' Jennys in 2005, Chic Gamine took home a trophy in 2009 and Eagle & Hawk scored an award in 2002.
  
  Some former Manitobans are also up for awards.
  
  Neil Young is nominated for artist of the year while his album Le Noise is up for adult alternative album of the year. Additionally, he is being honoured with the 2011 Allan Waters Humanitarian Award.
  
  Luke Doucet's album, Steel City Trawler, is up against Young's in the adult alternative album of the year category; Starfield's The Saving One is a finalist for contemporary Christian/gospel album of the year; multiple-award winner James Ehnes is up for classical album of the year: large ensemble for his Mendelssohn Violin Concerto; Jocelyn Morlock's Exaudi is shortlisted for classical composition of the year; and pianist Earl MacDonald's Re: Visions, Works for Jazz Orchestra vies for traditional jazz album of the year.
  
  rob.williams@freepress.mb.ca
  
  Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition February 2, 2011 D1
  

• Love Songs for the Last Twenty Album Review [+ Show ]
  

  Del Barber / Love Songs For The Last 20 (Brokenground Productions) WHEN local bard Delaney Barber ...Del Barber / Love Songs For The Last 20 (Brokenground Productions)
  WHEN local bard Delaney Barber hits the well-trod boards of the Winnipeg Folk Festival stages this weekend it will no doubt bring a smile to his face. Simply put, Barber's music is a perfect fit for the venerated festival -- this young fellow is a singer-songwriter in the truest, tie-dyed-in-the-wool sense.
  Love Songs is as sincere and heartfelt as the day is long and the combination of friendly musicianship, personal yet engaging lyrics and great songs will likely have the album flying from the shelves of the on-site music store. If the Manitoba Homecoming 2010 planning folks haven't already, they should definitely try and work out a relationship with Barber to use his beautifully poignant Home To Manitoba as their unofficial theme ode.
  Particularly outstanding are the sweet backing vocals of Nadine Klowak and the delicious pedal steel and Dobro work of ace picker Bill Western.
  Totally worth a long listen and be sure to check him out in the flesh this weekend. You'll probably be smiling too. 'Ö'Ö'Ö'Ö
  -- Jeff Monk
  

• Del Barber Nominated for WCMA - Roots Solo Recording of the Year [+ Show ]
  

  Western Canadian Music Award 2010 Nominees Aboriginal Recording of the Year Eagle & Hawk - The Gre...Western Canadian Music Award 2010 Nominees
  Aboriginal Recording of the Year
  Eagle & Hawk - The Great Unknown - MB
  Leela Gilday - Calling All Warriors – NWT
  Lost Priority - All That We Are - MB
  Shane Yellowbird - It's About Time - AB
  Wayne Lavallee - Trail of Tears – B.C.
  Blues Recording of the Year
  Colin James - Rooftops and Satellites – B.C.
  David Gogo - Different Views – B.C.
  Jim Byrnes - My Walking Stick – B.C.
  Rich Hope & His Evil Doers - Rich Hope Is Gonna Whip It On Ya – B.C.
  The Jimmy Zee Band - Devil Take Me Down – B.C.
  Children’s Recording of the Year
  Duplex! – Worser – B.C.
  Gogo Bonkers - Love the Land – B.C.
  Norman Foote - Love My New Shirt – B.C.
  Peter Puffin's Whale Tales – Proud Like A Mountain - AB
  The Kerplunks - Walk On – B.C.
  Classical Composition of the Year
  Elizabeth Raum - Prayer and Dance of Praise - SK
  Jocelyn Morlock – Exaudi – B.C.
  Malcolm Forsyth – Steps - AB
  Sid Robinovitch - Adieu Babylon - MB
  Stephen Chatman - Earth Songs – B.C.
  Classical Recording of the Year
  Fringe Percussion - Fringe Percussion – B.C.
  Jeremy S. Brown - Rubbing Stone - AB
  Mark Takeshi McGregor - Different Stones: Canadian Music for Multiple Flutes – B.C.
  Musica Intima - Into Light – B.C.
  University of British Columbia Singers - A Chatman Christmas – B.C.
  Contemporary Christian/Gospel Recording of the Year
  Amanda Falk - In Between the Now & Then - MB
  Carolyn Arends - Love Was Here First – B.C.
  FRESH IE – Inside - MB
  Jon Buller - Light Up the Sky – B.C.
  Sandon - Sonic Synthesis - SK
  Country Recording of the Year
  Doc Walker – Go - MB
  Shane Chisholm - Hitchhiking Buddha - AB
  Shane Yellowbird - It's About Time - AB
  Six West - Beautiful Something – B.C.
  Whiskey Jane - Things Left Unsaid – B.C.
  Francophone Recording of the Year
  Ariane Mahrÿke Lemire – Décousue - AB
  Geneviève Toupin - Geneviève Toupin - MB
  LuLu et le Matou - Le dragon Gaston - MB
  Madame Diva - Madame Diva - MB
  Shawn Jobin - Le premier pas (The First Step) - SK
  Will Stroet - Dans mon jardin - B.C.
  Independent Album of the Year
  Colin James - Rooftops and Satellites - B.C.
  Corb Lund - Losin' Lately Gambler - AB
  Dan Mangan - Nice, Nice, Very Nice - B.C.
  Dojo Workhorse - Weapons Grade Romantic - AB
  Library Voices - Denim On Denim - SK
  Instrumental Recording of the Year
  Birds of Paradox - Birds of Paradox - B.C.
  Ed Henderson – Intimate - B.C.
  Hot Club Edmonton - Hot Club Edmonton - AB
  Inhabitants – A Vacant Lot - B.C.
  The Rakish Angles - The Rakish Angles - B.C.
  Jazz Recording of the Year
  John Hyde - John Hyde Quartet - AB
  Karl Schwonik Quartet - Visions from the Farm - AB
  Kent Sangster's Obsessions Octet – Melodia - AB
  Sandro Dominelli - The Alvo Sessions - AB
  Will Bonness - Subtle Fire - MB
  Pop Recording of the Year
  Laurell - Can't Stop Falling - B.C.
  Maurice - Young People With Faces - B.C.
  Michael Bernard Fitzgerald - The MBF Love LP - AB
  Quinzy - Self-Defense - MB
  The Latency - The Latency - B.C.
  Rap/Hip Hop Recording of the Year
  Cityreal - The Beginning - B.C.
  Def 3 and Factor – Drumbo - SK
  Grand Analog - Metropolis Is Burning - MB
  MAGNUM K.I. - MAGNUM K.I. - MB
  The Lytics - The Lytics - MB
  Rock Recording of the Year
  Bif Naked - The Promise - B.C.
  Said the Whale - Islands Disappear - B.C.
  The Dudes - Blood Guts Bruises Cuts - AB
  The Weakerthans - Live at the Burton Cummings Theatre - MB
  Yukon Blonde - Yukon Blonde - B.C.
  You Say Party – XXXX - B.C.
  Roots Duo/Group Recording of the Year
  Annie Lou - Annie Lou - YT
  Carolyn Mark & NQ Arbuckle - Let's Just Stay Here - B.C.
  Dustin Bentall - Six Shooter - B.C.
  The Sojourners - The Sojourners - B.C.
  The Wailin' Jennys - Live at the Mauch Chunk Opera House - MB
  Roots Solo Recording of the Year
  Corb Lund - Losin' Lately Gambler - AB
  Dan Mangan - Nice, Nice, Very Nice - B.C.
  Del Barber - Where the City Ends - MB
  Gordie Tentrees - Mercy or Sin - YT
  John Wort Hannam - Queen's Hotel - AB
  Songwriter of the Year
  Colin James - B.C.
  Corb Lund - AB
  Dan Mangan - B.C.
  Doc Walker (Chris Thorsteinson, Dave Wasyliw, and Murray Pulver) - MB
  Dustin Bentall - B.C.
  The Weakerthans (John K Samson and The Weakerthans) - MB
  Urban Recording of the Year
  Ian Alleyne - Dying To Be Free - AB
  Maiko Watson – Sweet Vibration - MB
  Politic Live/Mahogany Public - JALI Volume 1 - AB
  Sonal - Lovely Day - AB
  The Soulicitors - What you need - AB
  World Recording of the Year
  Alpha YaYa Diallo – Immé - B.C.
  Bomba - Cuatro Caminos - AB
  Casimiro Nhussi – Makonde - MB
  George Koufogiannakis - Generations - Greek Oud Jazz - AB
  Ivan Tucakov and Tambura Rasa - Tambura Rasa Beats - B.C.
  Agency of the Year
  Magnum Opus Management - YT
  Paquin Entertainment - MB
  PM GIGS Inc - AB
  SL Feldman & Associates – B.C.
  Best Album Design of the Year
  Brooke Nelson - Where the City Ends (Del Barber)
  Craig Medwyduk (Guppy Design ) - In The Lonesome Hours (Oh My Darling)
  Michael Carroll and Greg Smith - Live At The Burton Cummings Theatre (The
  Weakerthans)
  Michelle Zieske - Washed Out Roads (Patrick Keenan)
  Ron Sawchuk - Live At The Mauch Chunk Opera House (The Wailin' Jennys)
  Skylar Challand - Denim on Denim (Library Voices)
  Engineer of the Year
  Dean Maher – B.C.
  Mike Petkau - MB
  Paul Silveira – B.C.
  Ryan Dahle – B.C.
  Steve Dawson and Sheldon Zaharko – B.C.
  Independent Record Label of the Year
  Arbor Records - MB
  Black Hen Music - B.C.
  Mint Records - B.C.
  On Ramp Records - SK
  Stony Plain Records - AB
  Live Music Venue of the Year
  Biltmore Cabaret - B.C.
  Starlite Room - AB
  The Commodore Ballroom - B.C.
  The Habitat - B.C.
  West End Cultural Centre - MB
  Manager of the Year
  Bruce Allen - B.C.
  Gilles Paquin - MB
  Louis O'Reilly - SK
  Stephen Carroll - MB
  Vince R. Ditrich - B.C.
  Multi Media
  “AO” video by Greendale Productions (TV HEART ATTACK)
  “Live At The West End” video by Low Budget Productions
  “More Than A Man” video by Scatterheart (Scatterheart)
  ‘This Is It” video by Greg Gillespie (The Wheat Pool)
  ‘Tungijuq” video– Tanya Tagaq and Zacharias Kunuk (Tanya Tagaq)
  Producer of the Year
  Ben Kaplan - B.C.
  Dale Penner - MB
  Gordie Johnson - AB
  Ryan Dahle - B.C.
  Vince R. Ditrich - B.C.
  Talent Buyer of the Year
  Alex Grigg and Robyn Stewart - B.C.
  Brent Oliver - AB
  Chris Frayer - MB
  Erik Hoffman - B.C.
  Harvey Cohen - AB

• Del-ighted to be home, for the moment anyway [+ Show ]
  

  Barber: he was born a ramblin' man. Del Barber gets only one song to make an impression at 2011: Th...Barber: he was born a ramblin' man.
  Del Barber gets only one song to make an impression at 2011: The Concert, a New Year's variety show of Manitoba talent, Sunday at the Centennial Concert Hall.
  The song he's chosen is a no-brainer for the rising folk/alt-country singer-songwriter, who just this month opened a concert for the Weakerthans.
  Concert Preview
  2011: The Concert
  Centennial Concert Hall
  Sunday at 8 p.m.
  Tickets $20.11, $30 and $35 at 949-3999, www.wso.ca or Ticketmaster
  Alone with his guitar, he'll sing Home to Manitoba, a track from his second independent album, the recent Love Songs for the Last 20.
  "I'm going home to Manitoba/ the skies get wide, the rivers breathe," the chorus says. "I'm going home to Manitoba/ gonna put my weary heart at ease."
  Home, rootedness and what it means to be anchored to a place are recurring themes for the rambling musician, who grew up in St. Norbert and is, on his father's side, a cousin of blues-rocker Colin James.
  "I believe in the tradition of the troubadour who makes his way from town to town," says Barber, 27. "I live an apparently rootless kind of life. But I feel pretty certain about where I'm from... and I think the songs sound like the prairies."
  Barber will sound like New Jersey, though, in a different incarnation on New Year's Eve at the Park Theatre when he fronts a band assembled to mimic the E Street Band.
  In an evening called Del Barber is Springsteen (advance tickets $30 at 478-7275), he'll play electric and acoustic guitar -- and harmonica, of course -- and channel the Boss.
  He'll do three sets, performing almost the whole album Born in the U.S.A. and lots of earlier material. It's the first time Barber has ever done a tribute show. He says he is "borderline obsessed" with Springsteen's blue-collar Americana.
  Barber's other heroes include John Prine, Greg Brown and Townes Van Zandt -- performers, he says, who can hold the stage with the power of a song or a story. In that tradition, he roams the continent alone, sometimes sleeping in his car. He thinks his minstrel impulses may arise from his Irish heritage (his first name is actually Delaney).
  He's been a rover for nearly three years, performing in every province and many U.S. states. He no longer has a fixed address. In the new year, he'll drive to the Yukon for a Home Routes tour of house concerts.
  "I've played houses, church basements, honky-tonk bars, cafes, festivals, clubs with actual stages and sound systems, and I'm starting now to get into theatres," he says.
  On Jan. 15, he has one of his most exciting gigs to date, opening for Texan singer-songwriter James McMurtry at a Chicago theatre. He's also booked for this spring's Prairie Scene festival in Ottawa.
  For a year when he was 22, Barber attended a college in Chicago and paid his rent by playing open-mic nights. He calls that a "baptism by fire" that taught him how to command a crowd's attention.
  Much of his music education, though, has happened as he's sat in the audience at the Winnipeg Folk Festival over the past decade, enraptured by artists such as Josh Ritter. This year, when he got an email inviting him to play the festival, he was so stunned that he thought it might be a prank.
  He was flabbergasted when all his CDs sold out at the merchandise tent. "I sold almost 400 units," he says. "I thought 50 would be amazing."
  A further thrill was chatting backstage with headliner John Hiatt. The veteran heartland rocker asked Barber how long he had been committed to his music full time. Barber told him how he'd been touring incessantly.
  "He was like, 'You made the best decision.' Then he went onstage and played this amazing set -- pretty spellbinding," says Barber. "Those moments are something you cherish when you spend dozens and dozens of hours alone in the car."
  alison.mayes@freepress.mb.ca

• Love Songs for the Last Twenty [+ Show ]
  

  Del Barber is Winnipeg’s next great songwriter. In this, the second instalment of his self-proclaime...Del Barber is Winnipeg’s next great songwriter. In this, the second instalment of his self-proclaimed four-albums-in-four-years saga, the local singer-songwriter taps into melodies and stories that are instantly familiar. Steeped in the country music tradition, the songs on the disc are not only carried by traditional instrumentation and Barber’s golden, oft-twangy voice, but also place heavy emphasis on narrative and place. Cities come alive in the standout track Chicago and the melancholic Thunder Bay, and a lovelorn Barber introduces history, love and desire as characters following a Great Lakes breakup scene. In the campy Songwriter’s Lament, Barber croons, “I may not make 50 grand in the next 15 years ... but I can write pretty love songs.” And with that, he’s hit the nail on the head: this is good stuff. With Love Songs , Barber establishes himself not only as worthy contender of the burgeoning Winnipeg roots scene, but also as a cornerstone of local songwriting.
  
  

• Bringing It All Back Home [+ Show ]
  

  Bringing it all back home Local singer-songwriter Del Barber sticks to his roots on Love Songs for ...Bringing it all back home
  Local singer-songwriter Del Barber sticks to his roots on Love Songs for the Last 20
  by Mike Duerksen (Volunteer)
  Ask local singer-songwriter Del Barber what’s missing in music nowadays and he’ll tell you it’s the cohesive narratives that once formed the bedrock of celebrated songwriting.
  “The thing that’s really hard to find right now is good stories on records,” the 26-year old said in mid-May over coffee at The Fyxx on Broadway.
  “The indie music that I don’t understand, but that’s really influenced me, is all about abstracted lines and very poetic. It seems like everyone is afraid to say something very specific. The genre is very unsure of itself and doesn’t really know what it wants to say. It can say whatever it wants.”
  If there is one thing to be said about the St. Norbert native, it’s that he doesn’t shy away from specific, local songwriting – at least not on his forthcoming album, Love Songs for the Last 20.
  Recorded in the span of four weeks with co-producer Jean Paul Laurendeau at Broken Ground Productions, Barber’s sophomore effort will be released on June 18th at the West End Cultural Centre.
  With one foot planted deeply in the country music tradition and the other dabbling in folk waters, the album is a confident and strident collection of prairie-bred Canadiana songs that deal with equal parts heartache, rootedness and the importance of place.
  “Country music is supposed to be something that everyone can understand, it’s supposed to be universal in some way,” Barber said. “But good country music is also supposed to be willing to say something that’s local. It’s all about trying to be sincere. It’s not an easy thing to do, to be honest when you write.”
  Barber’s folky 2009 debut Where the City Ends carried echoes of a desolate prairie boy finding his place in the world.
  But on Love Songs for the Last 20, a more mature Barber has found his way home, embracing his history and showcasing his knack for quick-witted lyricism through artful storytelling.
  On the standout track Chicago, a pedal steel guitar swells up and gently weeps as a lovelorn Barber breaks up with the mid-western metropolis he once called home.
  Similarly, the aching tune Thunder Bay sees the songwriter’s inability to commit to – and love – any other place but home.
  Good country music is supposed to be willing to say something that’s local. It’s all about trying to be sincere. It’s not an easy thing to do, to be honest when you write.
  – Del Barber, musician
  Track Record
  Del Barber breaks Love Songs for the Last 20 down, song by song
  “As Far As I Can Tell”
  “I wrote it to try to sound like Springsteen, in terms of the beat. It doesn’t have a strong narrative thread like Springsteen stuff, but it has some lines that are intriguing.”
  “Chicago”
  “Me breaking up with Chicago – leaving that place and realizing I couldn’t be at home there because of where I was from. Chicago wasn’t going to satisfy. It didn’t have what I needed and I didn’t know what that was until I realized that I was from somewhere else.”
  “Love Song for the Last 20”
  “When I was on the road, my mom called me saying ‘I had a dream last night that you would call your next record Love Songs for the Last 20. In the dream, I asked you, the last 20 what? The last 20 years? The last $20?’ After the call, I started thinking about how we measure things and time. It’s definitely the most abstract song. It’s supposed to be a way into the record.”
  “Miles and Years”
  “Break-up song that turns into a song about history and how it’s alive and at work, always already informing your situation.”
  “Home to Manitoba”
  “It seems like there are no political undertones whatsoever, but to me it’s one of the most political songs I’ve written because it’s supposed to move someone into saying their home is good, and their history is good.”
  “Coming Home with the Summer”
  “I was working in the bush (tree-planting) with Luke Enns, who plays guitar for me now, and we’d spend every night on the dirt roads playing music. He had a wife and a kid at home but he was broke. I started thinking about trying to put myself in his shoes.”
  “Story I Can Believe”
  “A pile of stories, a picture song. I’m writing to a specific friend, and there’s a spirit of admitting and realizing that I don’t know what I’m doing.”
  “If I Told You That I Loved You”
  “A love song. It’s simple and campy. It has these core beliefs in it … I’m not just going to assume the archetypes of the masculine male and the feminine female make sense to me – that’s not anyone’s experience.”
  “Songwriter’s Lament”
  “I wanted to have at least one comedic, campy song on every record. There’s a lot of sad music out there. If I want people to believe my sombre feelings, I also need to capture some kind of comedy or way to laugh at myself.”
  “Thunder Bay”
  “It’s the sister to Chicago. I fell in love with Thunder Bay this year, just because it’s a depressed town. It was really easy for me to describe Thunder Bay as this woman I really wanted to be with, and knowing also I couldn’t commit to her.”
  “Katy Sparrow”
  “A sad song I wrote with my dad. It’s about the strength of women. It has the backdrop of minorities that are universal to the time of the 1920s and before. Even now, we don’t understand how strong women are. We don’t listen to people whose voices are smaller than the majority’s voice.”
  But the hardships only serve to underpin the common thread that unravels through the whole album: the need for familiarity and the return back home from someone taking stock of their roots.
  “Our relationship with place is exactly like our relationship with a person, but somehow we don’t treat it that way. It’s a two way street – when you move to a town not only do you start loving that town, but it starts loving you back and teaching you stuff,” Barber said.
  “Leaving a place you’ve committed to is exactly like a breakup to me.”
  Following years of releasing DIY recordings, being on the road and working towards a degree in philosophy, Barber is now stepping into the role of a full-time musician.
  And he’s ambitious, too: he plans to release four albums in four years.
  “I want to have a body of work and I want to have specific statements,” he said. “Putting out more music just means my head is down and I’m working, and I want to share that with my community. It’s their fruit and it’s their songs.”
  For now, Barber plans to tour the new album extensively following a Winnipeg Folk Festival performance. He’s quick to point out his plans to return home to St. Norbert to record the third album.
  “I want to be specifically from somewhere,” he said. “And you have to be if you want to be writing country songs.”
  -Del Barber releases Love Songs at the West End Cultural Centre on Friday, June 18
  -Chris Carmichael, Jessee Havey and Rob Waddell will also perform
  -Advance tickets are available at Music Trader, Into the Music and the Winnipeg Folk Festival Music Store
  -You can also see Barber live on Sunday, June 6 at the Back 40 Festival in Morden, Man.; and Wednesday, July 7 to Sunday, July 11 at the Winnipeg Folk Festival.
  
  

• Del Barber at the West End Cultural Centre [+ Show ]
  

  Del Barber at the West End Cultural Centre, Winnipeg, June 18. Ailsa Dyson concert photo for www.gut...Del Barber at the West End Cultural Centre, Winnipeg, June 18. Ailsa Dyson concert photo for www.guttersnipenews.com
  - text by eugene osudar/photos by Ailsa Dyson
  the voice in the darkness
  from an insignificant
  big man
  all pumped up
  full of his muscular self
  you bullies
  you hecklers
  don’t you see
  The Power
  can’t you feel
  The Command
  on stage
  the adrenaline rushing/
  coursing through
  the veins
  of the true
  Big Man
  Del Barber
  at The WECC
  Friday night
  to nearly
  300 music lovers,
  friends and family
  and one immense
  arse,hole,
  wanting to command
  from the darkness
  on the edge
  of his sneering
  (his envious)
  frown.
  bullies and hecklers
  drunks and punks
  of the internet age
  i have heard
  too many
  of these voices
  (recently)
  at shows,
  without pause
  without a thought
  of hesitation,
  Del challenges,
  “Just because you lift weights
  doesn’t make you big,
  you gotta be
  on stage
  to
  be
  Big.”
  and that voice
  that bully
  shut his sneer
  in the fear
  he’s been exposed,
  he’s microscopic.
  deflated
  of his phony
  muscles.
  and The Skinny
  Big Man
  all wound
  up
  ready to spring
  un,
  coil
  twisting and turning
  round the microphone
  stand,
  in command
  Del’s towering
  flying, soaring
  Big and Mighty
  and Passionate
  on fire
  i could feel the heat
  on stage
  playing, singing, blazing
  and oh so proud
  of his illimitable
  talent
  Woody Guthrie’s
  wandering minstrel soul
  as Mitch Podolak
  said of Del Barber to me
  many months ago
  so many songs
  are standards
  just like Darren Day
  said to me
  of Del Barber’s songs
  after the first
  acoustic set
  it’s already written
  in my journal,
  because i’m singing
  along to so many
  (nearly) every
  song.
  so it is written.
  so it is truth.
  these songs
  are
  standards.
  and there’s no BS
  about Del Barber
  no two week
  tours to Toronto
  or Calgary
  (those are just,
  vacations)
  Del Barber
  is
  the true one
  in this Winnipeg
  music scene
  after his brilliant in-store
  Wednesday afternoon
  performance
  at Into The Music
  Del told me he has a tough, hard
  Home Routes Tour
  all the way from Winnipeg
  in the heart of the icy winter
  driving up to the Yukon
  and back again
  if you’re a true musician
  with talent
  with heart
  you need to tour
  4-6 months a year
  and play the towns
  and the cities
  the ugliest dives
  over and over
  and over again
  and build your audiences
  all around this country
  and beyond
  it’s a circuit
  and a grind
  it’s a commitment
  and belief
  in one’s self
  Faith.
  Mantra,
  in the talent
  in the heart
  of a minstrel
  a poet
  a writer
  an artist
  and
  you have to meet
  the challenges
  of the assholes
  head,on
  dead,on
  fight it
  brawl it
  Charles Bukowski
  style
  with words
  with a poet’s
  courage
  and sometimes,
  with your fists
  and your face
  cut the cowards
  down! to their
  microscopic
  size.
  they’re parasites.
  feeding on the weak.
  and dying
  before The Big
  and The Mighty
  Voice and
  Presence
  on stage
  The Woody Guthries
  The Billy Braggs
  The Del Barbers
  of this world.
  he’ll take his father’s
  all wheel drive
  truck
  he’ll take his songs
  his standards
  he’ll take his
  Woody Guthrie
  heart and soul
  he’ll take his passion
  his belief
  he’ll take his friends
  and family
  his manager’s belief, too
  all the Love
  he’ll take his courage
  for the long,hard ride
  and he’ll take on
  every bully
  every asshole
  every loser
  every jealous
  man
  and he’ll play
  it
  Big and Mighty
  just like he did Wednesday
  just like he did
  Friday night at the WECC.
  the hot hot 37 minute
  acoustic set
  Tell Me Where To Start
  62 Richmond
  The Party Song
  Coming Home With The Summer
  a Hoyt Axton cover, I Dream of Highways
  Katy Sparrow
  The Soul of a Land That’s Mine
  and then the hour long
  set with the band
  Love Song For The Last Twenty
  As Far As I Can Tell
  Miles and Years
  Chicago
  Home To Manitoba
  Love Is Just a Wrecking Ball
  Thunder Bay
  Where The City Ends
  encore,
  Neil Young’s Unknown Legend
  Bruce Springsteen’s Dancing In The Dark
  and then,
  a second encore,
  If I Told You I Love You
  the players,
  Del on acoustic guitar and harmonica
  Alan Owen on fiddle
  Nadine Klowak on harmony vocals and keys
  Bill Western on pedal steel
  Caleb Friesen on drums
  Luke Enns on guitars
  Jean Paul Laurendeau on bass
  (and the new cd’s producer)
  the highlights,
  a new song about boyhood
  hockey games
  Gretzky and Messier
  and today’s loves
  Tell Me Where To Start
  songs about a grandiose
  liar, 62 Richmond
  songs about philosophers
  and writers at a party,
  from a wild dream,
  Nietzsche and Dylan and Jesus
  Christ, The Party Song
  and i’m just singing along
  every one a standard!
  a song for his guitar
  player Luke and wife
  body tingles and shivers
  Coming Home
  With The Summer
  the Hoyt Axton cover is a song
  his parents used to duet on,
  and with Nadine, oh my,
  i’m hearing Emmylou’s
  sweet harmonies
  the ones she sang with
  Gram Parsons!
  Katy Sparrow
  more sweet harmonies,
  again, i’m singing along
  composed from a dream
  Del’s father had.
  and I feel like
  i’m listening to Woody
  Guthrie, a song about
  the voices that aren’t heard
  enough, women and kids.
  The Soul of a Land That’s Mine,
  so many tingles, gorgeous
  harmonies
  Nadine and Del!
  singing along.
  a perfect
  acoustic set!
  the second set,
  i want to dance
  and sing and
  sing and dance
  i want to Move!
  and
  i want to RoaR!
  Woody Guthrie’s
  here, now!
  i’m sitting
  singing ‘n’
  grooving,
  i’m sitting because
  i don’t want to take
  away from what’s
  happening on stage.
  Del’s Chicago songs
  from his university
  days, Chicago
  and
  Miles and Years
  country songs,
  beautiful poems,
  heavenly pedal steel,
  fiddle and harmonies
  soft caress drums.
  and back home songs,
  Going Home To Manitoba
  a perfect song story
  flow
  set selection.
  the story of Del’s song
  writer’s journey.
  “I shall not be moved…”
  Love is Just
  and
  Thunder Bay
  hot hot songs.
  and the encore,
  a little Neil Young
  just to channel some
  star tingles
  through our souls
  and
  Bruce Springsteen
  beautiful heroes.
  crazy brilliant keys,
  Dancing in the Dark
  and some friends
  come and lift me
  to dance.
  and a surprise
  (after the house
  lights switched on)
  a
  second encore,
  lights off again
  we’re howling along
  to the moon and beyond
  sun
  stars
  planets
  multi,
  verse
  “i’m all would up
  and ready to unwind,
  use your imagination…”
  the red panties
  thrown early on
  rest on a monitor.
  
  Panties on the monitor - Del Barber at the West End Cultural Centre, June 18, 2010. Ailsa Dyson photo
  and the perfect
  night is
  done.
  if i told you
  i love you,
  your minstrel soul
  your words
  your melodies
  your perfect birds
  would you believe
  me?
  these songs
  are
  standards.
  Darren Day.
  this minstrel
  heart
  is Woody/
  Mitch Podolak.
  and he’s ours.
  My Winnipeg.
  Del Barber
  WECC
  June 18.
  
  

• Review - Love Songs for the Last Twenty [+ Show ]
  

  Uptown Magazine Tales from the edge of town Local singer/songwrit... Tales from the edge of town...Uptown Magazine
  Tales from the edge of town
  Local singer/songwrit...
  Tales from the edge of town
  Local singer/songwriter Del Barber taps into his not-quite-city/not-quite-country upbringing on Where the City Ends
  Jared Story
  
  Tales from the edge of townAfter a string of slapdash home recordings, Del Barber figured it was time to stop mucking around and buckle down. This past April, the local singer/songwriter released his first proper album, Where the City Ends.
  
  "I realized I had a cohesive group of songs and all the great albums I listen to have a pretty good narrative line through them," says Barber, 25. "I don't know if mine is as specific as I would like it to be, but I still like that there is some kind of notion of an album and not just a bunch of songs. So I thought I better just work harder on this one and actually release a record and give this whole thing a try - an honest, legitimate try. No more foreplay, you know?"
  
  The album's title speaks to its theme. Growing up in St. Norbert, Barber was always quite aware of 'where the city ends.'
  
  "I always think that Winnipeg is this amazing place because we have the Perimeter Highway and it kind of marks a distinct boundary between city life and rural life," Barber says. "All the other cities I've been to it's so ambiguous, the suburbs stretch for miles and miles and you can't tell where it ends.
  
  "There are a lot of cultural things that are different between urban and rural life that nobody really spells out. I try to do that in a broad stroke. Growing up on the outskirts of town, the people from my school were mostly rural, farm kids. It was a strange situation for me, feeling like I was from the city, but all my influences were rural."
  
  Not just a lyrical matter, Barber and bandmate/producer Jean-Paul Laurendeau tried to make the idea translate musically too, incorporating synthesizer and spacey electric guitar into the countrified folk mix.
  
  Whether you're into old time or contemporary sounds, you'll love the record's rollicking last track, The Party Song. As quirky as it is catchy, the song speaks of a star-studded social gathering featuring the likes of Jesus, Karl Marx and Bob Dylan.
  
  "I had a big pizza before bed and I had this wild dream about all these historical figures showing up to this major end-of-year party I was supposed to have," Barber says. "It turns out I didn't like them as much as I thought I would. All my friends left and I realized I missed my friends. I also realized I was spending way too much time thinking about these guys and obsessing about what they thought, making them out to be these heroes. As soon as I spent real time around them, I realized they were boring or just disgusting. In my dream, I saw Nietzsche across the room and after going to talk to him I realized he smelled terrible."
  
  

• Musician Opens Up: Barber strives for accessibility [+ Show ]
  

  BY KRIS KETONEN THE CHRONICLE-JOURNAL Del Barber is looking to make up for his old, inaccessible ...BY KRIS KETONEN
  THE CHRONICLE-JOURNAL
  Del Barber is looking to
  make up for his old, inaccessible
  self.
  “The problem is, I have a degree
  in philosophy, and so I
  spent a lot of time being inaccessible
  just in conversation
  and the way I approached relationships,
  even,” the roots/folk
  singer/songwriter said during
  a recent Charlottetown tour
  stop.
  “I think music, and roots
  music in particular, is supposed
  to be accessible,” he
  said. “It’s supposed to be things
  people can get their teeth into.
  “I think in terms of songwriting,
  that’s what I think I’m
  trying to do — just be a songwriter
  and kind of follow in
  that tradition.”
  The 26-year-old Barber’s
  show at the Apollo on Friday
  night, with Scott Dunbar,
  marks the fourth time Barber
  has played through Thunder
  Bay.
  “I love it,” he said of
  the city. “I try to come
  back as much as I can;
  it’s definitely on
  the list of places
  to go for me.
  “It seems like it’s got a little
  bit of grit.”
  Little bit, sure.
  “And it’s still pretty happening,”
  Barber continued. “It’s a
  little bit strange, because the
  industry sort of surrounds
  the waterfront —
  or the failed industry, I
  guess — so it’s got a little
  bit of a lonesome
  feeling
  to it, as well.
  “And then, for whatever reason,
  people keep coming to my
  show, so I’ve just gotten a great
  response from there, you
  know?”
  Maybe Barber’s stuff is just
  . . . good?
  Laughter, then: “I’m starting
  to maybe believe that that’s
  possible. I’ve been a doubter
  for a long time.”
  What he said about Thunder
  Bay and the lonesome feeling,
  that’s the kind of thing Barber
  notices about a city. He
  thinks a lot about such
  things, and his songs explore
  them.
  “I try to write
  a lot about place,”
  Barber said. “I’ve
  got a new record coming out,
  which is mostly about geography
  and how people can’t easily
  be separated from their
  place. People aren’t as free as
  they think they are. They have
  a history, and the history kind
  of makes them, and that
  history is bound up in
  their roots.”
  For a further
  example,
  check out
  Where the City Ends, his debut
  album, which Barber said examined
  how the urban and rural
  worlds appear to be separate,
  but in reality aren’t.
  And while Barber’s tunes
  may sound like love songs on
  the surface, it’s really just a
  format he likes to use to get at
  other themes and ideas and
  subjects.
  “The love song format is really
  accessible, you know?”
  Barber said. “People can really
  get into that kind of thing. People
  want to hear heartbreak,
  and they want to hear songs
  about desire and things like
  that. And I want to be really
  open to people.
  “I don’t want to be some
  mysterious guy.”
  The day of the interview
  was a rough one for Barber.
  Calls to his cell phone went
  unanswered, voice mail full.
  Then, a call was returned, but
  not from Barber’s mobile —
  rather, it was from a Charlottetown
  restaurant.
  Seems Barber had eaten
  lunch there earlier and forgot
  his phone. They didn’t know
  how to get a hold of him.
  Barber was reunited with
  his phone later that day, after
  his record label was informed,
  though, so that was a bit of a
  ray of light.
  But still: “I’ve been wandering
  around this town. I don’t
  know, my computer crashed,
  all these sorts of things,” Barber
  said, laughing.
  But he was keeping it all in
  perspective.
  “It’s going well, aside from
  today,” Barber continued. “It’s
  been really great. So one day
  out of, whatever, 40 or 50 is
  pretty good.”

• Del Barber - "Where the City Ends" [+ Show ]
  

  Okay I am not going to lie to you here…I am partial to Del Barber. I have never met Del, or even ...
  Okay I am not going to lie to you here…I am partial to Del Barber. I have never met Del, or even spoken to him face to face, but alas I got this guys back. Why you ask? He is a good old ‘pegger!
  
  For those of you who are unaware of the term “pegger”, it is because you have not enjoyed a bone chilling winter and humid heat filled summer in Winnipeg. Yes, Del is currently in Winnipeg living the life of a prairie town talent. Winnipeg is quite well known for its arts scene despite (or due to) it’s location and Del, who’s music I am recently acquainted with, is one of those true talents. In correspondence with Del, he is a real guy just playing his folk tunes in great Canadiana style (yes, Canadiana, not Americana - although they just might be the same).
  
  “Where the City Ends” is receiving finishing touches and awaiting an early snowfall release (hopefully this November/December). From what I have heard, it is classic countrified folk tunes written from a small town boy at heart - stories of his city, prairie homes, conversations and finding one’s place in the world. In looking over the lyrics for “Harvest”, you may think of a farm boy looking for his way in the world or a greater truth in it all - it’s not just love and loss here. While songwriting is a huge aspect of Barber, I think it can be lost without the music to back it up and his style of acoustic country is perfect, it almost begs to have you sit back on the porch and listen.
  
  While I can lean towards sparse and at time lo-fi folk recordings, Barber brings well crafted songs that are skillfully written and built like a story that you want to read. One other item is his voice, it just fits…it is the voice of a performer, not hidden behind lush soundscapes or coming in beneath the surface of a song. His voice can actually carry a song, which can be refreshing in this new world swimming with singer-songwriters.
  
  I hope you feel the same way, but after a few listens of “Harvest” and “Where the City Ends” I believe you will be sold as well. I wish I could give you a link to buy some of Del Barber’s work, but you will have to visit his MySpace page for now and travel to Winnipeg, Manitoba this winter for a CD Release!
  
  Wait alongside me for that early snowfall and the sounds of a prairie winter, won’t you?
  
  ~Smansmith
  

• Five Local Artists to Watch in 2009: Del Barber [+ Show ]
  

  Del Barber Delaney Barber is your new favourite singer-songwriter – you just don’t know it yet. ...Del Barber
  
  Delaney Barber is your new favourite singer-songwriter – you just don’t know it yet. Over the past four years, he has toured across much of the U.S. and plans to trek across Canada as well. Barber writes songs that are at once classic and contemporary, traditional and original. Imagine if James Taylor, Iron & Wine and The Cardinals made a record together and you’re starting to get an idea of what Barber’s music is all about. Delicate folk, roots and bedroom indie songs with subtle country nuances like pedal steel and electric guitar drift atop Barber’s acoustic guitar and golden voice. The 24-year-old is currently putting the finishing touches on his new record, Where The City Ends, due out in April. Do yourself a favour and check out Barber; you won’t be disappointed. Visit www.myspace.com/delbarber.

• Tales from the edge of town [+ Show ]
  

  Tales from the edge of town Local singer/songwriter Del Barber taps into his not-quite-city/not-qui...Tales from the edge of town
  Local singer/songwriter Del Barber taps into his not-quite-city/not-quite-country upbringing on Where the City Ends
  Jared Story
  
  Tales from the edge of townAfter a string of slapdash home recordings, Del Barber figured it was time to stop mucking around and buckle down. This past April, the local singer/songwriter released his first proper album, Where the City Ends.
  
  "I realized I had a cohesive group of songs and all the great albums I listen to have a pretty good narrative line through them," says Barber, 25. "I don't know if mine is as specific as I would like it to be, but I still like that there is some kind of notion of an album and not just a bunch of songs. So I thought I better just work harder on this one and actually release a record and give this whole thing a try - an honest, legitimate try. No more foreplay, you know?"
  
  The album's title speaks to its theme. Growing up in St. Norbert, Barber was always quite aware of 'where the city ends.'
  
  "I always think that Winnipeg is this amazing place because we have the Perimeter Highway and it kind of marks a distinct boundary between city life and rural life," Barber says. "All the other cities I've been to it's so ambiguous, the suburbs stretch for miles and miles and you can't tell where it ends.
  
  "There are a lot of cultural things that are different between urban and rural life that nobody really spells out. I try to do that in a broad stroke. Growing up on the outskirts of town, the people from my school were mostly rural, farm kids. It was a strange situation for me, feeling like I was from the city, but all my influences were rural."
  
  Not just a lyrical matter, Barber and bandmate/producer Jean-Paul Laurendeau tried to make the idea translate musically too, incorporating synthesizer and spacey electric guitar into the countrified folk mix.
  
  Whether you're into old time or contemporary sounds, you'll love the record's rollicking last track, The Party Song. As quirky as it is catchy, the song speaks of a star-studded social gathering featuring the likes of Jesus, Karl Marx and Bob Dylan.
  
  "I had a big pizza before bed and I had this wild dream about all these historical figures showing up to this major end-of-year party I was supposed to have," Barber says. "It turns out I didn't like them as much as I thought I would. All my friends left and I realized I missed my friends. I also realized I was spending way too much time thinking about these guys and obsessing about what they thought, making them out to be these heroes. As soon as I spent real time around them, I realized they were boring or just disgusting. In my dream, I saw Nietzsche across the room and after going to talk to him I realized he smelled terrible."

• Across the Border [+ Show ]
  

  By Jonathan Dyck “I’ve always thought of Winnipeg as a place that has distinct boundaries, like...By Jonathan Dyck
  
  
  “I’ve always thought of Winnipeg as a place that has distinct boundaries, like you get with the Perimeter Highway,” Del Barber says, sipping a drink at popular Wolseley watering hole Cousin’s. Last May, Barber sold out his album release party for his debut, Where the City Ends, at the Park Theatre. Since its release, Barber and his backing band have been playing local gigs and, most recently, Barber set out on his own for his first tour north of the border.
  
  
  Although he grew up in Winnipeg, Barber spent some time living and studying in Chicago, a city that constantly brought up comparisons with his home town. “In cities like Chicago, you never know where the end is. Suburbs stretch as far the eye can see. I grew up in St. Norbert, where that line [between rural and urban life] seems blurrier. My high school was right on the southern tip of Winnipeg—half rural, half city kids. The river is also right there, so I grew up paddling that river all the time. One way leads downtown, the opposite direction leads to the country.”
  
  Like other gutsy folk artists, Barber has learned to channel the ambiguity of his upbringing through songwriting. “I always felt a little two-faced—like I couldn’t be sincere either way and it was confusing, still is,” Barber says. “The songs [on Where the City Ends] express that state of confusion and I like that about them. I have roots and a sense of place but it’s not easy to narrate in a straightforward way.”
  For Barber, the tension between urban and rural has much to do with the kind of music he grew to love and, consequently, the songs he started writing. “Folk and country music have a really hard time not coming off as kitschy or contrived because they sort of make too much of their histories and I don’t know if I really believe [the artists] mean what they say.”
  
  “I want to imitate people in a way that’s not lazy,” Barber says. “There are traditional forms in country and folk music that you can enter into. The forms aren’t static things. For me, writing music is about learning to find myself in the tradition and marveling at albums like [Bruce Springsteen’s] Nebraska.”
  Barber recently returned from touring eastern Canada, where he was featured at NXNE and brought into contact with other like-minded musicians. “I’ve toured the eastern and southern states to no great success—you know, fraternity parties and stuff—but this time around I’ve shared the bill with some great artists like the guy from Cuff the Duke and the Sunparlour Players,” Barber says.
  
  These days it can be pretty tough for singer-songwriters to catch a break. Not only are there a lot of up-and-coming solo musicians but, according to Barber, the singer-songwriter title has become an unfortunate cliché that audiences have become accustomed to writing off. “I guess I don’t expect people to take singer-songwriters seriously. I don’t know if it’s the fault of the performers or the fans,” Barber says.
  
  Still, Barber seems to enjoy flying solo and making do without a backing band. “I’m getting used to playing alone and trying to turn heads. With a band you don’t perform as much or tell stories like you would on your own.” Storytelling is an important craft for those who still consider themselves part of the country music tradition and, with his recent tour, Barber has become more aware of its importance. “I think about a quarter of my set on tour was just storytelling. Before [going on tour] I had this idea that I was supposed to be mysterious, like I was hiding something, but I’ve started doing the opposite and give people more than they’re comfortable with.”
  
  For Barber, this means allowing for more interaction between him and the audience while he’s on stage. “I’m trying to show the audience that there’s an exchange happening between us,” Barber continues. “Bands like Arcade Fire have a more communal relationship with their audiences and, to me, that’s what’s so folksy about indie rock. That’s the country tradition being played out in another genre.” And for Barber this mutual exchange is one of the ingredients missing from most singer-songwriter performances. “I don’t think people expect to get that sense of community from a singer-songwriter, but I hope they realize that they’re giving something back. That’s something I hope comes across when I’m performing.”
  
  Having just released his first album a couple months back, you might think Del Barber would be ready to take a break but, from the sounds of it, he’s even more ambitious than before. “I already have a new album finished,” Barber reveals, “and I’m hoping to record again soon.” Though Barber’s career as a folk musician has been an uphill battle, he gives no signs of slowing down. “I want to put out a new record every year for the next four years. That’s my goal.”
  
  Vol. 20 No.4 August/September 2009

• Where the City Ends [+ Show ]
  

  Del Barber is the writer of my new favourite tune. The Party Song, the final track on Where the City...Del Barber is the writer of my new favourite tune. The Party Song, the final track on Where the City Ends is an upbeat folk number with quirky lyrics such as "Old Karl Marx is in the backyard getting high on the trampoline." Driven by catchy hand claps and big backing vocals, this is some real merrymaking music. Maybe I shouldn't be singling this song out, as the rest of the record doesn't quite have this beer-bash quality, but as far as alt-country records go, this one sounds pretty cheerful. Barber deals in sorrow as much as anyone, but even the sad tunes on Where the City Ends still seem uplifting.
  — Jared Story

• Barber Brings a Big Sounds to Music Club [+ Show ]
  

  Prairie boy Del Barber will be bringing his big sound to the London Music Club Thursday. Celebrat...Prairie boy Del Barber will be bringing his big sound to the London Music Club Thursday.
  
  Celebrate the honest, humorous sounds that Barber cooks up, from The Party Song to Love is Just a Wrecking Ball. And once you're hooked on all the tunes available on his Myspace (myspace.com/delbarber) pick up a hard copy of his latest release, titled Where the City Ends.
  
  The disc dropped in May, and Barber threw a CD release party in Winnipeg to a sold-out (and spoiled) crowd. The great feedback has led to many a request at campus radio stations across the country, and the Forest City is lucky enough to have him perform both on-air and in-person this week. Wednesday night, lucky listeners caught a live performance on CHRW 94.9FM for The Folk, while tonight his sounds will fill the LMC's front room.
  
  Barber offers thoughtful-and thought provoking-lyrics over a blend of indie, folk and country sounds. Hear it for yourself when he performs tonights at 9pm Cover is $7. Barber's special guests Courtney Farquhar of Toronto and Beth Prysnuk of London.
  
  -Lori Mastronardi, Anna Coutts, Brain Wong

Setlist

Basic Requirements

Calendar