NEWSFLASH! SOME RECENT REVIEWS OF THE CD "THE CROSSING":
From Maverick Magazine (UK), May '08:
Barry Walsh The Crossing( Scarlet Letter Records 207141-2) ***
Barry Walsh is probably familiar to a good many Maverick readers, as for the past eighteen years he has played keyboards for Gretchen Peters and accompanied her on most of her UK tours. Now he steps into the spotlight with his solo album of deftly played piano pieces. He plays a Grand piano, and apart from Erik Satie's Je Te Veux, all the tunes have been penned by Barry and several were inspired by his tours in the UK like the delicate and reflective Leaving Newcastle and the more grandiose Exeter Cathedral. Though recorded in Nasville, this has no connection to country music, but just might be of interest to Gretchen Peters' fans.
Reviewed by Alan Cackett
THURSDAY, APRIL 24, 2008
The Crossing
Barry Walsh has been making music professionally for more than thirty years. Most of that has been spent in Nashville recording studios. In recent years he’s been touring in support of singer and songwriter Gretchen Peters, and with Alex Chilton and the Box Tops. His past history includes backing up Roy Orbison and Jimmy Webb, and writing songs that Waylon Jennings and The Amazing Rhythm Aces, among others, have recorded.
Thanks in part to encouragement from Peters, Walsh has now gotten around to recording his first solo album, and it’s something none of those credits noted above would likely prepare you for. Original, mostly just Walsh and his piano, it’s music that draws on both Bach and folk, and remains true to the voice of this artist. Without the first word being said, Walsh speaks clearly and movingly of connection, discovery, love’s questions and love’s certainties, and the varied landscapes of thought and emotion. David Henry adds masterful cello on several tracks, including the opening title cut, and Mark Selby brings in guitar on Nigel’s Blues. The only cover is a twice imagined take on Erik Satie’s Je Te Vieux, a piece which Walsh presents as at once somber and seeing the possibility of joy. It fits in perfectly with the rest of the collection.
POSTED BY KERRY DEXTER:
http://musicroad.blogspot.com/2008/04/now-playing-barry-walsh-crossing.html
Barry Walsh
The Crossing
(Scarlett Letter Records, 2008)
Terrific sidemen are the unsung heroes of the music world. Barry Walsh is a piano virtuoso whose gifts at the keyboard have added so much to the music of the Box Tops and singer-songwriter Gretchen Peters, as they did in the past for Roy Orbison, Jimmy Webb and Al Green. Mr. Walsh has released a solo album of his own compositions, and it's nothing short of spellbinding. He admits being influenced by Bach, and it shows. This is not a pop album, nor is it New Age. Rather, it has elements of classical, jazz and blues, and it takes you on a mesmerizing journey. Mr. Walsh has circumvented the genre of solo piano recordings by slowing down the pace and letting the individual pieces speak for themselves. And they do, loudly and lyrically.
Michael Granberry- Dallas Morning News:
Barry Walsh has been a professional musician for more than three decades, and in that time he's performed with Roy Orbison, Jimmy Webb and Al Green, and he's written songs that were recorded by Waylon Jennings, Jessi Colter and the Amazing Rhythm Aces. Currently, in addition to touring extensively with singer-songwriter Gretchen Peters (over ten UK tours since 2001), Walsh plays keyboards for the recently revived Memphis rock and soul band The Box Tops, featuring Alex Chilton.
The Crossing was recorded at Walsh's home on a Kimball Viennese Edition grand piano with touches of backing by cellist David Henry and guitarist Mark Selby. Walsh's Labrador Retriever Nigel lay motionless at the feet of Selby as he overdubbed on an as yet untitled song. It was duly named "Nigel's Blues" in his honor.
I have to confess to being one of those people who never really 'got' music without lyrics. However, maybe as a result having been mesmerized so many times watching him play with Gretchen, I was eagerly anticipating the release of this album. On first listen, what was immediately obvious was the emotion that had gone into these beautiful pieces of music. Even before reading about the album, it is apparent that each one came from a personal place, be it experience of affinity.
The latter is true of 'Je Te Veux.' Barry comments of the track, "This is an Erik Satie (the French composer) piece, and the only song I didn't write on the CD. I have been playing Satie's music for 40 years."
That, therefore leads us to the rest of the album, Walsh's own compositions. The Title song, 'The Crossing,' a metaphor for the changes in two lives over a period of time, one of which was his own. Angel of Repose' was the title of one of his favorite books, by Wallace Stegner and 'Years May Go By' was inspired by a line in a Rikki Lee Jones song. The obvious love for England which has grown over his years of playing here is evidenced in the fact that two songs on the album refer to UK cities; the haunting 'Leaving Newcastle' and 'Exeter Cathedral', the melody of which remains with you long after the final piano chord is played.
Barry Walsh truly is one of the most remarkable and intuitive musicians I have ever had the pleasure to watch and he has created his own piece of magic in his first CD release. I am hoping that when he tours here with Gretchen this year we may be given the opportunity to hear even just one of these tracks performed live - maybe 'Leaving Newcastle' in the city which it honours. In the meanwhile this Cd will continue to have heavy rotation on my CD player and I only hope there are more where this came from. Apparently I do 'get' music without lyrics after all.
World traveler and musical explorer Barry Walsh has done many things and made music with some extraordinary figures, but only now has he composed and recorded a solo instrumental album. The 11 original piano works on Walsh's new CD The Crossing are serene, airy and cyclical, but they have a gravity born of their inspiration in specific experiences.
"The title is a metaphor for the changes that have happened in my life in the last three years," says Walsh. "A long-time marriage ended, and a new relationship began with a singer-songwriter I've known for many years."
That would be Nashville artist Gretchen Peters, author of hits such as "Independence Day" and whose critically acclaimed recent CD Burnt Toast & Offerings investigated the birth of the new relationship with the candor and clarity of a poet. On The Crossing, Walsh offers his take on the story in the universal language of spare, elegant instrumental music, a telling that's more abstract but no less emotionally potent.
The title track takes the long view on the journey he and Peters made together and toward each other with a suspenseful pulse in the high register and a breath of release and relief at the end. The delicate second cut "Leaving Newcastle" was named for a special place shared on tours in the UK. During a two-week separation, when Peters was in England and Walsh was home alone composing, he conceived the album's wistful "To See You Again." The CD closes with the Erik Satie influenced "The Steps Of The Parthenon," a reference to the Parthenon replica in Nashville, long a meeting place for local lovers.
Walsh has been a professional musician for more than three decades, and in that time he's performed with Roy Orbison, Jimmy Webb and Al Green, and he's written songs that were recorded by Waylon Jennings, Jessi Colter and the Amazing Rhythm Aces. Currently, in addition to touring extensively with Peters, Walsh plays keyboards for the recently revived Memphis rock and soul band The Box Tops, featuring Alex Chilton.
The decision to step forward with a solo work after so many years of supporting others allows these many influences, as well as Walsh's many travels and life epiphanies to come together in a style he can claim as his own.
The Crossing was recorded at Walsh's home on a Kimball Viennese Edition grand piano with touches of backing by cellist David Henry and guitarist Mark Selby. Walsh's Labrador Retriever Nigel lay motionless at the feet of Selby as he overdubbed on an as yet untitled song. It was duly named "Nigel's Blues" in his honor.
The recording breathes with expansive, roomy warmth, and the music captures the bittersweet reverberations of adults changing course.
For more information on Barry Walsh: barrywalshmusic.com
A BRIEF AUTOBIOGRAPHY: I was born the fourth of nine children in White Plains, New York to a French Canadian/Irish mother from Lewiston, Maine, and a first generation Irish father from Chattanooga, Tennessee. This combination of different worlds may have contributed to a lifelong fascination with other cultures. I've always felt both a part of, and yet somehow apart from, both North and South. My father relocated this very large family to Nashville when I was 16. I couldn't know this at the time, but this event became one of the most serendipitous things that ever happened to me.
At age 19 an urge to break out of the pack combined with a search for adventure led me to travel West, where my oldest brother was then living in Oregon, and where I lived for the next six months. I was reading, living, and breathing Jack Kerouac, who had only died three years earlier, in 1969. Eventually my restlessness again led me to search for something more. I answered a "Pianist Wanted" notice someone had tacked to a bulletin board in a music store in Portland in 1973 and wound up playing piano with a trio in a club in Grants Pass, Oregon for the next eight months, launching a now 36 year music career.
After moving back to Nashville in 1974 I studied classical piano with Carol Stone and W.O. Smith at Tennessee State University; played gigs with Roy Orbison and Jimmy Webb; wrote songs for Waylon Jennings, Jessi Colter, The Amazing Rhythm Aces and others, and spent 30 years making a living in Nashville recording studios.
I've toured Europe with my musical partner, songwriter Gretchen Peters, fourteen times since 2001, and I continue to record and tour internationally and domestically with her. I also tour with Alex Chilton and the Box Tops when I am not engaged in studio work. My passion has been and will always be music- the learning and creating of it. I have a lot more curiosity than greed in my soul, and I hope that it remains so.
"The Crossing" is my first solo CD. At least three of the tracks are directly related to my recent tours in the UK. My goal was to create an instrumental piece of work that would hopefully break new ground artistically, drawing on the musical influences gained from a lifetime of playing and performing music. Most of the tracks are solo piano, but there is a cellist (David Henry) on 3 tracks, and an acoustic guitarist (Mark Selby) on 1 track. Also in the mix on 3 tracks are some sampled original piano notes, manipulated by the aforementioned David Henry, who also mixed the project at his True Tone Studio in Nashville. The CD was released in 2008 and is available at CDBaby.com, Amazon.com, iTunes, and also through my website, BarryWalshMusic.com. Hear selected tracks from "The Crossing" now on the web at www.solopianoradio.com
Thanks for adding me to your circle of friends Your music is very nice is exactly my taste. I wish you much success and also fun with your projects All the Best for You !!! Greetings from Germany Orientchill
There are great musicians and then there are GREAT MUSICIANS. There are nice people and then there are NICE PEOPLE. You my friend, fit the latter of both statements!!!!
x Laura
PS Q: How do you protect a valuable instrument? A: Hide it in an accordion case.
hi barry! at long last i have finally started to write my own stuff. what do you think of my first track? sad you are not coming to glasgow during your next tour by the way, it was so good to see you and gretchen :)
This accordion player played at the worldwide webcast last Saturday. If you missed it, click here. The eBay charity auction is now underway with loads of collector's items for country music fans. Come check it out!
B- I am so excited about the live webcast!!!! Its the closest thing you can get to being there!!! That makes twice in two weeks! Pretty damn awesome if you ask me!!!!
Hey Barry I'm am gonna try to upload the video of steps of the parthenon today and I'll send it to you via your website email if that's ok! Its such a beautiful song!!!
Wishing you the Very Best this Weekend and just wanted to make sure to let ya' know of the Pleasure I get knowing your on this Groove Train! Unleash your Mojo this weekend and Dance as if No One is Watching and let your Groove Shine in the Eyes of whoever is! Many have Fallen for the Right to Boogie anyway we want to and Damn It....Let it Flow! The Boogie is On!
We have a professional studio located in El Cajon (San Diego) California. We are doing custom price quotes RIGHT NOW for the cheapest unadvertised prices imaginable.
Hit us back if you are interested and we will give you the details!
Cheers,
Jeff & Mike
“If I were not a physicist, I would probably be a musician. I often think in music. I live my daydreams in music. I see my life in terms of music. ... I get most joy in life out of music.”
Ever wondered what to do in the event of a nuclear threat?
A while ago I found stuff that inspired me to make this film:
Living Under the Shadow of the Nuclear Umbrella
Both artistic (ensure you get the background music!) and educational, it primarily comprises official British government civil defence advice.
Though source materials are quite aged, much remains relevant today.
I encourage all to visit the YouTube page to learn more (Show support! Rate! Comment!) and responsibly circulate as widely as possible, here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UaIim3Rj7L4
How is everything going for you this week? Hope all is well :) Just thought I'd stop in to say thanks for the friendship and to let you know that my debut album is now available on iTunes.
Online Now!
Seja bem vindo!!!
