Geoff writes, "Like most people I think, I’ve been influenced by everything I've stumbled into or that's stumbled into me... the natural world, music of all kinds, visual art, theater, fiction, non-fiction, biographies, poetry, individuals and "learning experiences" that have whapped me upside the head. The musicians who've influenced me the most are Pete Seeger, Bob Dylan, Lightnin' Hopkins, Dave Van Ronk and Bruce Cockburn. A longer list would hafta include Leonard Cohen, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Utah Phillips, Mose Allison, Ray Charles, John Hammond, Robert Johnson, Mississippi John Hurt, Blind Willie McTell, Skip James, Doc Watson, Tom Rush, Tom Waits, John Martyn, Nic Jones, Nick Drake, Randy Newman, Paul Winter, Michael Hedges, James "Blood" Ulmer, Duke Ellington, my contemporaries Bob Franke, Paul Rishell and David Massengill, and some jazz and classical composers. Surely I've forgotten a few."
Sounds Like
Geoff writes, "Well... I don't think I sound like any of the people who've influenced me. I sound bluesy much of the time and generally find I'm most expressive and most at home in that idiom. I play most shows with a small-bodied Martin, a National resonator guitar, some harmonicas and a slide. Most of the time I play finger-style but I'm also getting better (slowly) with a flatpick. I use a few altered tunings, but play mostly in dropped D and standard. My voice is kind of low and I'm one of those people who talks between songs. Overall, I try to send people home feeling better than when they arrived.
My most popular song seems to be "One Kind Word", which is written mostly from a dog’s point of view. You can never have too many songs about dogs, I always say."
Geoff Bartley (1948 - ?) is a blues-, folk- and jazz-influenced acoustic guitarist, singer, songwriter and harmonica player. The folk press has called him folk music at its best, a brilliant songwriter, a world-class guitarist, a local legend and the prophet and spiritual godfather of the Boston folk scene, all of which Geoff takes with several grains of salt. Some of his songs and co-writes have been recorded by other artists in the US, Nashville, Canada and Ireland and some are also included in the Smithsonian Folkways Recordings of the Fast Folk Musical Magazine collection in Washington, D.C.
Geoff has released seven CDs, which are available above and from his official website www.geoffbartley.com. Some titles are also available from the independent songwriter label Waterbug Records www.waterbug.com in Chicago and www.amazon.com. Geoff hosts two nights of acoustic music each week at the Cantab Lounge in Cambridge, Massachusetts, both of which have been voted Best of Boston in local A&E media. Geoff lives in a suburb of Boston.
Since his first professional gig in 1969, Geoff has played in thirty-two states and Canada and has opened for or shared venue or festival stages with Dave Van Ronk, Guy Van Duser, Leo Kottke, John Sebastian, Barry Crimmins, John Martyn, the Persuasions, Leon Redbone, Brownie McGhee & Sonny Terry, Taj Mahal, Jorma Kaukonen, Al Kooper, Dr. John, Martin Mull, John Hammond, Livingston Taylor, Richie Havens, Suzanne Vega, Michael Manring, Richard Thompson, Tom Rush, Doc Watson, Tim O’Brien, Norman & Nancy Blake, David Bromberg, David Mallett, Mary McCaslin, Jonathan Edwards, Gamble Rogers, John Jackson, Odetta and others.
In the 1980s, Geoff won four guitars at the National Fingerpicking Championships hosted by the Walnut Valley Festival in Winfield, Kansas. Geoff says, “Winning the guitars was a big thrill for me and it was wonderful to get that kind of recognition. The competition was fierce... there were some killer players out there. I still play the herringbone Martin they gave me in September 1984. I wanted to weld the trophies to the hood of my Datsun, but some friends talked me out of it.”
In addition to his own shows in southern New England, Geoff plays guitar and sings harmony for topical songwriter and veteran folk entertainer Tom Paxton www.tompaxton.com. Most of their shows together are at venues and festivals in the northeast, but Geoff has also accompanied Tom at the (now defunct) Bottom Line in New York, the Birchmere in Alexandria, Virginia and at a show for the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio in July 2000. About that gig, Geoff says, “Nice folks out there. They gave both Tom and me a Rock Hall tour jacket at the gig. Tom and I tell everybody they wanted our old ones for an exhibit.” Geoff was also instrumental in bringing the Tom Paxton Signature Model Martin guitar into production in 2004 (www.martinguitar.com).
Acoustic guitar instrumentals and songs Geoff has written have been used on the History Channel, Animal Planet, A&E, the Learning Channel, the Discovery Channel, the Science Channel, The National Geographic Channel, Nature on PBS and in other network and cable television programs and advertising on other stations, and in documentary films and in private and commercial advertising in the U.S. and other countries.
What others have said...
“If the old saw is true, that a prophet in his own land is never recognized, then the prophet of the Boston folk scene is surely a bluesman and songwriter named Geoff Bartley... With a poet’s love for choosing just the right word and a musician’s instinct for the emotional essence of language, he explores the frontiers of song as adventurously as any songwriter on the folk scene today." ~ Scott Alarik, folk music correspondent for The Boston Globe and author of the book "Deep Community: Adventures in the Modern Folk Underground". The article about Geoff was first published in The Boston Globe in 1997.
“Geoff Bartley’s music combines great guitar playing with brilliant imagery... I think Geoff has been very successful on a human and artistic level in what he’s done with his music. What he’s given goes beyond anything you could put a price tag on." ~ singer/songwriter John Gorka
"(Geoff Bartley is) one of the world's great guitarists." ~ Michael Moran, Director, Amazing Things Arts Center, Framingham, Massachusetts
"Having started and shaped the careers of many of Boston’s singer/songwriter stars, local legend Geoff Bartley continues to put out some of the best music anywhere. Singing of peace and friendship, life and death, Bartley demonstrates the truthful talents that have put him on stage with the likes of Tom Paxton and on par with countless other renowned performers..." ~ Matt Robinson, All Music Guide www.allmusic.com (1998) reviewing Geoff's 1998 CD, "One Kind Word" (Waterbug Records WBG-0046)
“(One Kind Word) is a wonderful album... full of soul, full of grace, overflowing with gems.” ~ singer/songwriter Richard Shindell
“Geoff is an amazing player, he writes wonderful songs that speak to the heart and if that weren’t enough, he is a great person who really cares about folk and roots music and the people who make it.” ~ Brad Paul, Producer and Host of Folk On WGBH, 89.7 fm, Boston
License Geoff's music for commercial use through Pump Audio
The works are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 License
Great to reconnect again after so many years! The Cantab was great fun, as was hearing you sing and play that ol' guitar again. The Doc and I will be back again sometime soon.
