Lee Barber

Lee is in no hurry to say what he has to say. His unwinding delivery hangs and pulls, nearly falling off the back of a wagon that’s filled with dusty pawn shop amplifiers, weird organs, an upright piano and old world horns. Right now, the moon is holding water and Brian Beattie is driving a peddler’s cart. He’s an old hand at negotiating the landscapes of extra-human songwriters like Daniel Johnston and Will Sheff of Okkervil River. Glowing sulfur tubes warm his ankles as the carriage groans with sweet distortion. They’re moving through a canopy of trees, within smelling distance of the Mississippi. A storm threatens in the hills. The singer is leaning into a worried guitar. He’s got kerosene on his hands. The music sounds like it comes straight out of the ground, ripe with mud and salt.Lee and producer/alchemist Brian Beattie are putting the finishing touches on his first solo album, with help from many talented musical friends. Preview some of the new music above. ******* There was a one-of-a-kind band that Lee fronted called ‘the Barbers’. Begun in Mississippi, they relocated to Austin and released two acclaimed records. Here are some excerpts:“Their musicianship is all over the place ....the hippest offering I've heard from Jackson environs since Mose Allison's.” --Van Dyke Parks"Underneath all of the unusual textures the Barbers have pieced together a batch of graceful and often stunning songs.” --Michael Bertin - The Austin Chronicle“...the songs ring like sweet calls from the soul. ’You Know How It Is’ sounds possessed by a spirit.” --Michael Corcoran - Austin American Statesman“Not many songwriters can pen a good old-fashioned tear-jerking ballad with the dignity and understatement of Lee Barber." --Will Sheff “’Tissue and Twine’ is a ballad of love lost, nudged gently along by harp and slide guitar, an odd combination that works because the melody is so simple and beautiful Burt Bacharach might curse himself for not writing it.” --Luann Williams – Texas Monthly “’Picture of Evelyn’ kicked my ass... ’Killed by Love’ is murder...yeow! ” --Terry Allen