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 Folk singer JILL BARBER, soon to be touring here with rockin’ lad Hawksley Workman, shares her thoughts on the tour and talks about her new album with HEIDI LEIGH AXTON.
Canadian folk singer/songwriter Jill Barber has come a long way since being described as a shy introvert who hid in the shadow of her brother Matthew. In just 4 years of entertaining, her music has won her multiple awards and nominations. Including two Juno nominations for Best Roots Recording for a solo performer and Best New Artist. She is looking forward to touring Australia, and is particularly excited about working with fellow Canadian Hawksley Workman.
“I remember the first time I saw Hawksley. He blew my mind!” enthuses Barber. “His performances are absolutely astounding. I was probably 16 years old when I first saw him perform and I was just starting out. In my wildest dreams, I never imagined that I would be on tour with him in Australia.”
Barber will be promoting her new Australian release For All Time, but as a special bonus for audiences attending shows, they will also get to preview songs from up-coming 2009 release Chances.
“I have this new record, Chances, here in Canada, but my old record, For All Time, has only just come out in Australia,’ she explains. “I’ll still be playing some new songs. It would be silly not to… Chances is different. It’s a lusher, fuller sounding record. For All Time is folkier, rootsier”
It’s true, Chances has an almost ‘30s/’40s jazz feel in comparison to the more Country/folk flavour of For All Time. What inspired her to make such a leap with style between albums?
“I’ve spent a lot of time listening to old records. I’m a bit of a romantic. I’m drawn to all the old music of yesteryear. Lots of classic beautiful strings; Orchestrated dreamy whimsical music. I’ve been really attracted to that style and maybe even nostalgic for a time I’ve never known. That comes out in my music for sure.”
So if Marty McFly was cruising her street in his time machine one night, and offered her a lift, what musicians from that era does Barber think she’d befriend?
“That’s a good question … I guess Cole Porter would be a good one… Billy Holiday…There’s this guy that I love; “little” Jimmy Scott. He’s one of my favourites… Gershwin… All those people I’d love to befriend. I feel like I am friends with them in a way, you know?”
Reading reviews, it’s clear many see Barber’s musical presence as something from another age. Maverick Magazine UK says: “Jill Barber is part of a breed of foxy and self-assured singer-songwriters … a tribute to an era when a song could be cheeky and sexy without being explicit.” MOJO adds: “Barber’s got another of those soothing voices that sounds as though it’s been around longer than she has.” Still, she insists she is a modern woman deep down.
“I am pretty modern. I have a Blackberry! I don’t live in the past … As a songwriter, I study the old music and try to figure out why that music has stood the test of time and write music that hopefully will stand it’s own test of time.
JILL BARBER plays the Woodford Folk Festival, Dec 27- Jan 1 (five performances). She is also supporting Hawksley Workman at The Troubadour on Thursday Jan 8. Her new Australian album FOR ALL TIME is out now through Code One. www.myspace.com/jillbarbermusic
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