The Barr Brothers are, well, actual bros, and have played music together in different (albeit always enjoyable) outfits, notably in The Slip.
The Slip is currently on hiatus, and for some time Brad and Andrew went their separate ways; the big brother went on to do solo stuff and founded Super Little, while Andrew drummed for Land of Talk (and still does). The pair rebanded a couple years ago with a little help from their friends, and now write orchestral folk-blues that pays homage to beautiful things such as the harp and the greatly missed Lhasa.
Their eponymous debut is available on their site, and they’re playing tonight at M for Montreal, 9:05pm sharp, with other great acts such as Metz, Valleys, Suuns and Random Recipe. Don’t miss.
The Barr Brothers – how did it happen? (Apart from the obvious…)
It was summer of 2007. Andrew and I had been in Montreal for about two years. Andrew was spending the summer living on an island in a yurt with his girlfriend Meghan, and I had my little apartment on the Plateau. Sarah was my next door neighbor, and I used to hear her practicing harp through the wall, sometimes even playing along with her. Eventually we started playing together. When Andrew got back, Sarah and I had learned a bunch of my songs and we were off and running. Our friend Miles Perkin was playing bass with us at that time. We called ourselves Super Little. When he left for Berlin, Andres Vial joined on keys and bass, and we decided to call ourselves The Barr Brothers.
Your “big break” so far?
We’ve had lots of breakthroughs, break ups, break downs… not sure if there’s been a “break”, yet. Making our record in our own studio and having turn out as something we all enjoy, getting nice feedback from others, has probably been our biggest milestone so far.
Three albums that are crucial to you?
Niafunke, Ali Farka Toure
Dark Was The Night, Blind Willy Johnson
Fur Alina, Arvo Part
Bonus: Let it Bleed, Rolling Stones
How many shows have you played?
We’ve played about fifty shows so far. We did a west coast tour where we had to rent Sarah a harp every night. It went surprisingly well, as harpists tend to be a generous family of musicians. On one of those shows, at The Great American Music Hall in San Francisco, the harp we rented was the harp used in the Predator soundtrack.
The best show you saw this year?
Nathan Moore, Vaudeville Tent, High Sierra Music Festival in Quincy California, July 2010.
Check out Nomag’s interviews with Braids, PS I Love You, Ensemble and Jesuslesfilles on the M site.
by Evelyne Côté / THE BARR BROTHERS – Lord I Just Can’t Keep From Cryin’ from Mitch Fillion (southernsouls.ca) on Vimeo
