Danny Barnes is an American original
Barnes spins tales of American life like a latter-day John Steinbeck, wielding banjo and pen with equal effect, and the character of his voice as the perfect mouthpiece to truly bring these songs and stories to life… Stuffed with sharp hooks and addictive vocal and instrumental melodies, yet it’s Barnes skills as a storyteller that shine strong. He tells tales with the wry wit and humor of Garrison Keilor, the lyrical eccentricities and intellect of Randy Newman, performed with the southern twang and swagger of Levon Helm. Barnes combines and blends all of these elements into a style that is uniquely his own.
What his good friend Bill Frisell is to the jazz guitar, Danny Barnes is to the banjo—a space pioneer. He has shared the stage with such diverse geniuses as Bela Fleck, Del McCoury, and Sam Bush, Robert Earl Keen, Lyle Lovett, and Nickel Creek, Leftover Salmon, and Keller Williams, to jazz and blues instrumentalists Bill Frisell, Chuck Leavell, and John Popper, and as bizarre as punk and metal acts like Butthole Surfers, Dead Kennedys, and Ministry.
After two decades of experimentation, ranging from his work with Austin Americana icons The Bad Livers to recording on his friend Dave Matthew’s latest album, Barnes has the credentials to take his rocket ship wherever he wants!
Yet all he wants is to write good songs. Different songs. As he says of his last album, Pizza Box, “I was just trying to create the best batch of songs that I could come up with. I worked on ’em for about three years and I didn’t really have an outlet for it. I really felt these songs were more like fractured pop than bluegrass or acoustic songs…so I didn’t really know what to do, I just kept working, and playing the songs live, developing them… getting the poetry right and developing these characters and the overall story arch, figuring how to make the arrangements very simple and to my ear, powerful, chords that were boulders instead of pebbles, making a movie in my head where the songs were scenes and there were common elements that tied everything together to tell this one big story.”
Barnes found an ally in Dave Matthews. Danny was invited to perform on the band’s latest platinum release, Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King. Throughout the process, the two had become friends, and Matthews’ enthusiasm for Barnes brought this body of work to light, with Matthews even contributing backing vocals on some of the songs (including lead single, “Overdue”) and the cover art illustration of the album.
Says Danny Barnes, “Pizza Box is my favorite new music, my favorite rock record, and my favorite country record. It is heaven and earth. It is Americana, from the back porch to the pulpit, shattered dreams on angels wings. I can’t stop listening.” In the haze of over produced, “perfect” recordings, Danny Barnes spent less than two weeks banging out an album that may well save your soul.
Barnes spins tales of American life like a latter-day John Steinbeck, wielding banjo and pen with equal effect, and the character of his voice as the perfect mouthpiece to truly bring these songs and stories to life. Pizza Box comes stuffed with sharp hooks and addictive vocal and instrumental melodies, but it’s Barnes skills as a storyteller that shine strong. He tells tales with the wry wit and humor of Garrison Keilor, the lyrical eccentricities and intellect of Randy Newman, performed with the southern twang and swagger of Levon Helm. Barnes combines and blends all of these elements into a style that is uniquely his own.
The Treehouse is proud to bring you this American Original, in a solo performance on Saturday March 3. But don’t let “solo” fool you—Danny Barnes comes loaded for bear!