Rockin' with Barber Music

Interview Q & A with Dave Barber

How early did you start playing music?

When I was 12 years old, I heard the five-string banjo tv theme song for The Beverly Hillbillies. It’s probably the same story for every banjo player out there. There’s a few generations of us with that same story! It was a magical thing to me. I immediately started saving my money, and by the end of that summer I had enough to buy one. I remember thinking that very first day of having that banjo, even before I could play it, that if there ever was a way to become a professional musician…how amazing would that be?

Did you have a lesson that first day?

No! I’ve had maybe 10 lessons in my whole life. I was homeschooled, and a very shy, solitary kid! We lived on a farm that was not even close to a city, so I didn’t have access to music teachers. I somehow figured out the patterns in songs and the technical aspects of playing banjo, and then guitar on my own. It was clear to me that the only thing I wanted to do from that point forward was to play music for a living.

What was it about guitar that hooked you?

I discovered some early influences – Tony Rice, Chet Atkins, Ry Cooder, etc. – and then I knew I had to play guitar as well. It was like hearing a secret, that there was a self-contained musical world that you could create with just one guitar. Those rich harmonies, those rich chords, different tones. Also, very important, music was the way I could connect with other people, without actually having to talk to them! 

What was your first performance memory?

I had found a group of other kids who played music and we started gigging as teenagers. I got hired to play a gig, my first road trip to Kamloops, British Columbia, as a 16-year old. It was a real eye-opener, as a rural kid from a beekeeping family farm. 

Ok, so you were self-taught, and playing with bands in your late teens and early 20s, and you got accepted to the Grant MacEwan Music Program Degree in Edmonton, Alberta? 

Yes, I had discovered jazz, through players like Django Rheinhart and Lenny Breau. I had figured out folk, country, blues, etc, but when I heard jazz, my ear hit a limit to what I could figure out on my own. That really intrigued me. Luckily, the head of the guitar program at Grant MacEwan University saw something in me and I was accepted. 

What was the experience of a formal musical education like?

I think you may be just saying that not so much the players were high caliber, but the teachers at McEwen were - DAVE tell me a bit more about this so I can tweak. We can talk about it when I see you tomorrow.  

I didn’t even know how to read notes when I arrived in Edmonton, so it was a steep learning curve for sure! But, for me, jazz related back to classic country and I was able to find my way. It was a big step musically to take in and learn so much formally, from reading music to high level musical theory to composition, and just playing with players of a very high caliber. And, I was around people who loved music as much as I did, so I was able to open up socially and enjoy life. Oh, and I met my wife there too. In Edmonton, Kirby and I started gigging a lot as well. It was great training for what came next.

Well, what came next?

Kirby and I moved to Vancouver in 2011, in search of new opportunities to play with different artists and push ourselves. This is where I met and played with people like Chad Brownlee, Dallas Smith, and had a banjo part on a four-times platinum single by Coleman Hell, 2 Heads.  

A big part of our growth as musicians has been to leave a scene and move to a whole other scene. We did that again, moving to Nashville in 2017. 

What was the scene you were looking for in Nashville? 

Nashville is where the big names play and record, so you have all sorts of opportunities to network at even a higher level of talent and professionalism. I was hired a lot as a sideman and got a lot of encouragement from a new group of players. Nashville was also about throwing ourselves into the deep end of the pool and finding that we could float and not sink!

Now you’re back in Canada, working on your own songs and releases.

I’m excited to finally be putting together my own work, expressing who I am. At this point, I’m most excited about trying to create my own sound, a sound and a style that puts together the many elements of music that I love – tone, timing, various musical styles. I wrote, recorded, and released my first album Molly’s Eyes, an instrumental album in 2023. Now I’m blending in singing and lyrics, another new challenging layer for my upcoming project. Stay tuned! But it’s all in the same main mission: expressing myself fully and doing what my heart wants in the moment. To be uninhibited in my love of certain musical forms and just fully immerse myself. Me being me is all that I can bring to the musical table, and it’s the most interesting challenge I’ve set myself to date. 

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