Barry Ingle

"This is a fascinating, evocative debut by Seattle singer-songwriter, Barry Ingle. The sound is intimate, just Ingle's voice and his piano accompaniment. His voice is distinctively warm and precise, with a bittersweet, almost ironic uality, somehow both sad and bemused, passionate yet aloof. It's a quality that's well suited to these vivid portraits, capturing the strengths and vulnerabilities of his colorful characters. There's Miss Anna, the neighborhood eccentric alcoholic whom the children both ridicule and pity, or the monk who tends the flowers and a secret passion for a brother monk in "Monastery." A less skillful writer would reduce these characters to mere types, but Ingle avoids cliches and renders them with insight and compassion. A meditative, intriguing collection from a new artist worth watching." - Victory Review

"Pegging Barry Ingle as the gay male Tori Amos is entirely too easy. For one thing, Ingle openly cites her as an influence, and for another, on Monastery he largely sticks to solo piano, Amos' most trademark sound. The clincer is Ingle's Wizard of Oz redux, "Tornadoes" --you'll swear it's a Tori cover when he sings lines like "you must be the good witch 'cause you say you're pretty/I'm feeling like the bad one 'cause they say I'm ugly." Where the two differ most is subject matter: While Amos can sometimes float off into the ether lyrically, Ingle stays firmly grounded in real-life situations. Singing in a voice that sounds like a cross between Elton John and Al Stewart, Ingle's chosen leitmotif is people trapped in all manner of unfortunate circumstances...These detailed character sketches are Ingle's greatest strength - there's a warmth and a brightness to his music, but it's the figures in the shadows that linger longest in your mind." - The Advocate

"Barry Ingle, a man who could easily be called "twee," is amongh Seattle's most talented and charismatic singer/songwriters. Monastery, his debut LP, is more sophisticated and introspective than much of the work in the current Northwest Top 20. While his gentle piano ballads will likely never make him beloved by Seattle's music scene, my bet is that he'll transcend his city in a few years and be picked up by a major label, at which point he will be loved by tener, fragmented souls across the country. Meantime, he does his gig in Madrona where he performs haunting, meditative music to people shoveling food into their faces." Jeff DeRoche - Jeff DeRoche - Stranger (Seattle)

"...From the first smooth words and softly accompanied piano notes of "Miss Anna," (Barry) Ingle is progressively more and more engaging - a provacative vocalist whose created space feels warm and safe as he sings - even in this particular song about loneliness and eccentricity of the neighborhood's misunderstood lady. While his portraits are modern adn vivildly described, his voice recalls older, pivotal voices in music-folksters like John Denver or even James Taylor, but more specifically, a young Elton John, in performance style and voice, sweet and soulful.
....Ingle is a fantastic and skilled lyricist. Phrasing leads into a general framework of storytelling, but adjectives and descriptions are well-chosen, direct and avoid overused chiches..." - Viva Tacoma - Lisa Gunter