Fiddle prodigy Mike Barnett may have started young but he’s still considered something of a break-out talent from the Boston roots music scene. Although now based in New York he was on fiddle duties with Boston’s newgrass outfit The Deadly Gentlemen from 2011 to 2014 who later broke up as members took on other projects.
His new album, titled “+1” follows up on his “Portraits In Fiddles” which was nominated for a GRAMMY Award in 2018. +1 has been four years in the making and features Eddie Barbash, Maeve Gilchrist, Alex Hargreaves, Sierra Hull, Sarah Jarosz, Dominick Leslie, Ricky Skaggs, Nat Smith and Molly Tuttle. While this new release may not be in the same maverick territory of The Deadly Gentlemen, there is no shortage of breadth to its coverage ranging from traditional American tunes to newgrass with elements of Celtic music, pop and jazz-tinged improvisation thrown in for good measure.
Take a listen to “Righteous Bell,” featuring Sarah Jarosz.
Barnett says, ““I wrote this just before the 2016 presidential election. Looking back, there is much work to be done before any ‘righteous bell’ is rung. The juxtaposition of the propelling, changing instrumental and the grounding, unchanging vocal melody creates a sort of galvanizing tension that hopefully inspires the listener to take action — voting, conversing, learning, protesting, etc. Just like in an old-time jam, the vocal melody and lyric fuels the fiddles and banjos, and everyone feeds off each other’s energy. Sarah Jarosz’s powerful singing and driving clawhammer banjo brought this song to life.”
Pre-order +1 here: https://compassrecords.lnk.to/plus1WE
Photo Credit: Stacie Huckaba