Originally from Providence, RI and best known for their rock trio The Slip, brothers Brad and Andrew Barr have put together something very special in their new hometown of Montreal. I had the treat of happening upon them during the CMJ Music Marathon this fall in New York City. Opening up the evening at Cameo Gallery on Tuesday night, they caught me completely off guard with their richly textured, mellow (but at-times blues rock), mini symphonies, arranged with a heart-beating drum kit, a soul-strung harp, and a loose, rumbling bass. Brad’s endearing voice gently insists that you listen to the poetic lyrics, lyrics that drove me to buy their self-titled album and listen over and over and over.

These are mature musicians, as is made clear in this turn of phrase from “Old Mythologies”: When a pony runs out of tricks, then his work has just begun. I had the pleasure of recording the song live, which leads with the pitter patter of hands as you are transported into an Appalachian saloon where echoes of ancient tales fill all negative space.

Throughout the album, The Barr Brothers have tact, exercise choice, let songs breath, and gracefully stretch their canvas across multiple genres. It’s the sort of listen that makes you realize that, for artists, the best acts of creation must be totally satisfying unto themselves. That they are released as albums, marketed, toured sold, etc… is all just icing on the cake. Lucky us.

The instrumental break in “Give the Devil Back His Heart,” for instance. There are no Pro Tools metronomes as musicians record their individual parts here. No search for catchy, pop-friendly melodies. No imitation. Just music, taking over for a moment or two, before the musicians wrestle back into the second verse.

Take the opening lyrics on the mid-album lullaby “Cloud”:

“I made myself into a cloud
Into a cloud, I made myself
And I soared silently under the moon
To see that you were sleeping, sound in your room

I sailed over the naked earth
Over the earth, naked I sailed
And I emptied my rains on hot desert sands
And I smiled as the curious held out their hands.”

On their own, the lyrics to this song are a poem; paired with restrained and deliberately imprecise accompaniment, they become the narration of a feeling that rightly just pulls back from a climax as the hovering voice concludes:

“Some clouds are red at night
And some clouds are red in the morning
And some clouds leave gray tracks in the sky
But most of us are doing our best just to float by
After all we’re whatever you see with your eyes
Waiting on the wind to blow our friends back to our side.”

Just when you think you’re going to drift into a dream, “The Devil’s Harp” picks you up with its eerie tale of the stories told by a majestic bird to a wayward traveler. I could go on, but really, there is no use in listening to me. Listen to The Barr Brothers. They are patient. They will make you patient. Really, it’s a joy to have something that keeps me coming back for the more. And not the all-you-can-eat Vegas buffet kind of more, but rather the top-secret-gourmet-restaurant-plate sort of more… you know, when you fight the urge to swallow because you feel like there are still flavors left in the sauce not yet fully absorbed, still textures yet to be combined in one forkfull. Thank goodness you only have to buy a record once. Such dinners can get pricey.

Check out The Barr Brothers this month in NY, MA and RI. Tour dates:

1/18 – New York NY @ Rockwood Music Hall (8:30PM)
1/20 – Cambridge MA @ The Lizard Lounge (w/ Jocie Adams of The Low Anthem)
1/21 – Providence RI @ Firehouse 13 (w/ Jocie Adams of The Low Anthem)

For more info on the band: http://www.thebarrbrothers.com/

—————————————————————————-

Photo courtesy of Susan Moss