JOE BAKER guitar & vocals, CHRISTEN HUBBARD mandolin & tenor banjo, SEAN OLDHAM drums, SIMON FEENEY upright bass
Influences
Bob Wills, Hank Williams, Louis Armstrong, Jimmie Rodgers, Charlie Patton, Peggy Lee, Delmore Brothers, we also like Sleepy John Estes, Marty Robbins, Lefty Frizzell, Maddox Bros and Rose, Fiddlin' Arthur Smith, Merle Haggard, Eddie Condon, Big Joe Williams, Eddie Lang & Joe Venuti, Johnny Paycheck, Jelly Roll Morton, Milton Brown, Vitaphone Orchestra, Doc Watson, Jon Rauhouse, Eddy Arnold, Al Jolson, John Fahey, Roger Miller, Benny Goodman, Hunger Mountain Boys, Lonnie Johnson, Ray Condo, Fats Waller, Loretta Lynn, The Buckles, Hoagy Carmichael, Little Richard, Flat Duo Jets, Howlin' Wolf, Cowboy Nation, Dale Watson, Boswell Sisters, Dead Moon........
"If Doc Holliday sauntered into a bar, hacking up blood, you can bet your weight in sarsaparilla he'd want to hear a sound like that of Portland's, Joe Baker and his Barefoot Brakemen. With their surly steam-engine country twang and ample tinkling on the ivories, the band's sound is the kind of authenticated Americana you'd expect to hear in a boomtown saloon, making one jones for some corseted working girls and a massive, chair-smashing bar brawl as the band plays on." -Willamette Week
Joe Baker and his Barefoot Brakemen have been playing all over their hometown of Portland, OR for several years now. Their music has been called “dixie-tonk” and can be described as being equal parts country, jazz, and blues, with influences being mostly from the 78 rpm era. On “Shook, Broke, Hung”, their 2008 debut release, out December 9th on Alonzo Records, the band disregards current popular music with a sound rooted deeply in the past.
Recorded onto tape and mixed in mono by Mike Coykendall (M Ward, She & Him, Tin Hat Trio), the bulk of "Shook, Broke, Hung" was done as a live 5-piece band in one room with no amplifiers, all in one day. Instrumentation consisted of steel-string acoustic guitar (Joe Baker), mandolin and tenor banjo (Christen Hubbard), drums (Richmond Fontaine’s, Sean Oldham), upright bass (Jim Delaney) and piano (Joey Prather). The following day David Goldstein (founding member of Hackensaw Boys) was brought in to add some fiddle to a couple of numbers. Finally, Joe added some steel guitar and then completed all of his vocals (Christen managed to squeeze in a background vocal on one song). On the third day it was all mixed.
The result is an inspired collection of songs that showcase each player as they take on five Baker originals (three bluesy honky-tonk weepers, "Why Are You Doing This To Me", "Wiping Back These Tears", and "Wasn't That Nice", the ragtimey, "Owyhee River Home" and the hillbilly-boogie instrumental, "Baker's Boogie"), renditions of songs by the likes of The Delmore Brothers ("Gonna Lay Down My Old Guitar"), Lefty Frizzell (You Want Everything But Me"), Peggy Lee (I'm Gonna Go Fishin'"), Porter Wagoner ("A Satisfied Mind"), as well as their take on two dixieland jazz standards ("Please Don't Talk About Me When I'm Gone" and the instrumental "China Boy").
Lively, raw, exciting, and fun, and with a dose of plaintiveness, sorrow and heartbreak for good measure, “Shook, Broke, Hung”, is sure to bring Joe Baker and his Barefoot Brakemen to the attention of those seeking a great new band with an old-style sensibility. Recommended for fans of country, blues and jazz.
Joe Baker and his Barefoot Brakemen's Friend Space (Top 40)
Joe Baker and his Barefoot Brakemen has 887 friends.
Howdy, friends! I played "Ill Have Somebody Else"(-bonus track)on the newly GRAMMY nominated cd, Willie and the Wheel (Willie Nelson and AATW)!!!!!BRAND NEW SONGS UP TODAY! and the band just got on reverbnation..check it out..www.reverbnation.com/therubyjaneshow
Like your version of "A Satisfied Mind"...if you want to see me play soon you'll have to come to Nashville where I'm living these days. Good taste in drummers...Yay!
"Ticklin' The Strings" by Sweet Hollywaiians
Amazing Japanese hot string band playing 1920's, 30's, 40's style hawaiian, swing, calypso, blues, italian music and originals,featuring vintage instruments.3 songs with Robert Armstrong and Tony Marcus(from Robert Crumb and His Cheap Suit Serenaders)
"The Sweet Hollywaiians have probably the best feel for this 20's music of any string band working today. They manage the rare feat of sounding relaxed even when their playing is hot, are top notch musicians with tasteful arrangements and a full, rich, warm sound.Plus, they have a nice gamut of tunes, from King Nawahi to Giovanni Vicari to Bobby Leecan. See them live, if you can, for an unforgettable experience. If you can't, buy their Cds!" ~ Terry Zwigoff
Thanks for adding us on your page. You can browse our page anytime to stay updated. Please let us know how we are doing…..if any questions please feel free to ask.
Thank you so much for honoring us with your precious friendship.... We hope that you are having a wonderful evening and that the adventures of your Life feel like a ride on the mystery train of Pure Joy.....Thanks again......
Hi Joe, Great to have you as a friend!! Best wishes, Mike (Brett Huckfield's promo team). PS Please check out Brett's debut release 'Here Again' (available on iTunes, Amazon, Napster etc.) Hope you enjoy the music!!
12 yr old version of the Closet Man, book he’s readin has major significance toward the mystery of who he grows up to become…
THE CLOSET MAN, WRITTEN AND CREATED FOR FILM BY MIKE DECKER.........TO BE FILMED AND DIRECTED BY DAMON PARSON......... Born without a chance to a prostitute mother and a bedroom in the closet this young individual will rise to become much more then whatever you think he is… In the beginning you think of him as dumb, slow, screwed up from childhood, haunted from his mother’s murder, and homeless other then, well, your closet… You’re scared of him because you never know which closet he may come out of and no idea what he’ll look like when he does, as his disguise changes with each closet he visits, and stalking you from the inside of your own home for up to weeks before he strikes! Later you mystically begin to realize there is more to this Closet Man killer then ever imagined and eventually chilled as you digest just how much more to him there really is, a story, a goal, and even an end game that is revealed in twist after twist up until the final twisted moment revealing the truth and making sense of all the previous twist and turns that baffle you right till the very end, leaving you breathless…
