I've been running Danny Barnes' website for at least 15 years now. We did a major redesign in 2009 for the Pizza Box record... building the site in Drupal 6 and working with some bigshots at ATO Records (owned by Dave Matthews, who brought Barnes onto the label and performs on his records.) The earthy tones of that design theme were replaced by "purple space" for the Rocket / Angel / Poison release in 2011.
Here it is folks.... the all-new Danny Barnes site just in time for next week's major label release of "Pizza Box."
Not only have I had the distinct pleasure of working with my favorite musician for several years now... I've had the opportunity to work with his new management at RedLight, who also manage Phish, Dave Matthews Band, and Ben Harper among others. Truly an adventure. Check out the site because we have his new songs (and some old ones) streaming right there on the page and you can also download a high-res MP3 of "Caveman" for free.
Other features of the site include: live twitter feed on front page, integration w/ Facebook so you can use your FB i.d. to comment on the site, cool mapping features in the gigs section, and much more. Also trying to retain some old features such as "Ask Danny Barnes" and pulling in the blog from the Folktronics site. So if you are looking for Folktronics, it's here on DannyBarnes.com
The new record is phenom. My new favorite song is "Road" but ask me tomorrow and I will tell you it's "Bone." The closer "Sparta, TN" should be all over the freakin' radio. Another favorite is "Lifeline" that appears on the pre-order package and I think the digital download package but not sure. Anyway... please enjoy!
Just launched a new website for one of my all-time favorites -- Bad Livers -- who are playing shows together again.
This site is built with Drupal 6 and is totally interactive. It's also integrated with Facebook so that Facebook users can comment on the site without having to create a new account.
They will be in the Bay Area next month and might actually rehearse on my front porch. Let me tell you... this 1907 porch was MADE for Bad Livers. Tom... better send me back the DAT deck!
We didn't catch a whole lot of shows this summer, and only one on this list, but thanks to some generous artists and savvy tapers you can enjoy these from the comfort of your MP3 player. I recommend downloading the variable bit rate MP3's as a zip file, unzipping, and then importing into iTunes.
The phrase "Hardly Strictly Bluegrass" must have been inspired by the 90's Austin, Texas band Bad Livers. They broke up in 2000 just before Warren Hellman launched his awesome free festival in 2001.
Bad Livers' music always seemed to show up at HSBF in one way or another. The sound man for Emmylou Harris played their records just before her set the first 3 years (and for all I know, he plays them at all of her gigs.) Then Danny Barnes began showing up in person, playing w/ Tim O'Brien on the main stage and Robert Earl Keen's now-traditional slot at the Rooster Stage. His electric band (The Collective) played the Porch Stage in 2006.
Now... somehow... the Bad Livers are getting together for a special reunion show (shows?) at Hardly Strictly VIII. Like I was saying, these guys were the definitive "hardly, strictly bluegrass" band that was as influenced by Motorhead and the Bad Brains as they were by Earl Skruggs and Bill Monroe.
Bad Livers had a way of making a banjo, fiddle, and bass sound as HEAVY as Metallica or Cream. It's really a treat to see Barnes and Mark Rubin get together again. They ranked at the very top of the banter scale with their discussions about fishing and food. We don't know yet if Ralph White will round out the trio, or if it will be Bob Grant, or somebody else. You just might find out here first.
I'm not trying to be a hep music journalist here but since I do have friends that like to keep up vicariously with my music adventures, here are some the things I listened to this year... in no particular order:
Queens of the Stone Age - Era Vulgaris
Era Vulgaris is far and away my favorite record this year and I consider it to be at a level of genius on par with the Flaming Lips' Pink Robots album. Some might snark, especially old school Queens fans. My old friends who have gone a little soft are horrified. And even Joshe Homme, the Queens mastermind, would squirm at any hint of pretention.
Just about anybody who knows me or this blog knows that Danny Barnes has been my favorite musician for 17 years or so. (His band used to be Bad Livers.) During that time, we've become good friends and I also handle his website. He's always gotten the nod from world class musicians (Bill Frisell, John Paul Jones, Tim O'Brien, and many others) but he's remained in relative obscurity to the masses... until this past weekend.
While on tour with Robert Earl Keen and warming up for the likes of Bob Dylan and Dave Matthews Band, turns out that Matthews himself is a huge fan and invited him to play w/ DMB at some Texas shows. You could say it went over BIG!!
Now... those who know me also know I've never been a Dave Matthews fan but how can I not like somebody w/ the good sense and courage to share his coveted stage w/ Mr. Barnes? Way to go Dave!! First, in Houston, Barnes debuted on at 20 minute version of "Bartender" and the DMB encouraged him to just PLAY. And play he did... check out the accompanying audio/video and the crowd goes bonkers. Same deal the following night in Dallas with "Corn Bread" and "Lie In Our Graves."
It went over so well that Dave Matthews called him up and asked him to come down to L.A. for 2 shows at the Hollywood Bowl in early October. A couple days after that, Barnes will in the Bay Area for a solo gig opening for Charlie Louvin in Saratoga and will appear w/ Robert Earl Keen at Hardly Strictly.
I've been checking out the DMB chat boards and the fanbase is going nuts.... they are calling for Barnes to join the band. And they're astute enough to figure out that both live in the Seattle area, so some kind of upcoming teamwork is more than plausible. Just watch these performances and look how jazzed the DMB is on our guy Barnes. Of course Barnes had nothing but the best to say about Dave, his band, and his crew, not to mention the audience.
