CMT Blog: Archive

The very first band I saw at South By Southwest (SXSW) this year really knocked me out. They’re called the Barker Band, and they’re from London. Fronted by handsome twin brothers, with several musicians on support (including their dad), the band’s a little bit ragged, but right all the same. Reminds me of Old Crow Medicine Show’s early monthly gigs days at Station Inn, as well as the energy of the Avett Brothers. The Barker Band could go just as far. I wouldn’t dare call it bluegrass because almost all the instruments are plugged in, but a banjo occasionally surfaces, and if they played a festival like Merlefest, the place would go totally crazy.

They started off with “Who Will Watch the Old Home Place?”, which I recognized from a Laurie Lewis album. But while she sings about how sad it was to tear it down, this band seemed awfully content to tear it up. I’m listening on repeat to “No Matter How Bad It Gets” on their SXSW page as I write this. They have quite a few more songs on their MySpace page. Chew some gum, drop it on the floor and stand on it — and you can pretend that you’re in the same Austin bar hearing them too. They gave away CDs at the end of the show, but since I was in the back of the room (as always), I didn’t get up there in time, but hopefully I’ll catch up with them again.

Incidentally, they’re featured in a documentary called We Dreamed America, along with some other UK bands “in the gritty underworld of the New British Country movement,” according to the Web site. Shot for $400, the movie premiered at the SXSW film festival yesterday, and it’s showing again on Friday. I met the filmmakers while the band was sound-checking, and invited them to Nashville, since they drove down from New York City to get the American experience, and they’re heading back next week, via New Orleans and Memphis. Naturally, in the meantime, they are loving Austin. Me too.

The Barker Band on SXSW

The Barker Band on MySpace