• logo

Digger Barnes - Frame by Frame (2014)

Digger Barnes - Frame by Frame (2014)

BAND/ARTIST: Digger Barnes

Digger Barnes: "Near Exit 27"

An abandoned theme park, by the side of the road two old dinosaurs made of fiberglass. A car passes, followed by a cloud of dust. At the wheel a mustached man, on the backseat a guitar case.
Over the past 10 years, singer-songwriter Digger Barnes has been documenting his life on the road and capturing it on record. Tales of longing, melancholy and morbid charm are his trademark and the material of the “Diamond Road Show“. The “Diamond Road Show“ is a peculiar type of road movie - a bastard bearing the DNA of cinema and concert alike. Digger Barnes developed this show-format alongside his friend, painter and video-artist Pencil Quincy.
In previous years many miles were traveled to bring the "Diamond Road Show" to people at home and abroad. Yet here too, the outsider breaks with the norm: Instead of bringing the film show solely to clubs or cinemas, the tour, not unlike the road itself treads unfamiliar territory. Barnes takes his road trip to cemeteries, chapels, old gas stations, boxcars, squats and doesn't even shy away from psychiatric institutions, high-brow theaters or airplane hangars. Being constantly on the road, Digger Barnes' life and the fictional episodes of the "Diamond Road Show" merge and become inseparable.
Barnes' latest record "Near Exit 27" is a prime example of the dissolving of the boundaries of fact and cinematic fiction.
The atmospherically dense opener "The Hoopoe" functions like a prologue, with horn arrangements reminiscent of Bernard Herrmann's film score for "Taxi Driver". In terms of content. similarities can also be found between the hoopoe with his splendid headdress and the morally ambivalent character Travis in Scorsese's urban thriller - who, haunted by insomnia and worldly pain, is driven to vigilantism.
Repeatedly, Digger Barnes deals with topics such as alienation, departure and flight, describing the outsider's position in the world, and it is precisely this forever-traveling and never-arriving of the outsider that Barnes has created a musical monument for with his song "Travelin' Man".The string arrangements by producer Friedrich Paravicini envelope Barnes' voice not unlike Claus Ogerman's arrangements accentuating the voice of Antonio Carlos Jobim.
In “Way Too Long“ Barnes cultivates and expands his narrative qualities. Following the minimalist short prose tradition of Raymond Carver or Sam Shepard this laconic account is carried by Barnes' warm baritone. Dobro and stoically picked rhythm guitar make one recall the furrowed face of Harry Dean Stanton in Wim Wenders' road movie “Paris, Texas“.
The initial slow build up of “You Can’t Run From The Devil“ develops, through the addition of mellotron and celesta into a psychedelic high-speed pursuit between good and evil - as if Dario Argento made a 3 minute short film of Johnny Cash's life.
All of Digger Barnes' albums include reflections and echoes of songs that correspond with one another.“Mary Lou“ appears to be a continuation of “The Letter“, a song about a broken relationship from Barnes’ album “Every Story True“. The haunting use of pedal-steel and harp implies something far removed from a happy ending.
“His Name Is Dan“ and “Last Dance“ are two songs on “Near Exit 27“ that are the result of a collaboration with author Franz Dobler. In 2014 Barnes, Quincy and Dobler created an artistic offspring of the “Diamond Road Show“- “Diamond Motel“ a stage variety, run down Rock 'n' Roll haven connecting cinema, concert and literary reading.
In addition to the use of mostly acoustic instrumentations “Near Exit 27“ also includes the use of the Ondes Martenot, a synthesizer less known than the famed theremin that also dates back to the 1920's. Already in the early days of electronic music, the Ondes Martenot was appreciated as an expressive equivalent to the human voice and lends the song “Homeward Bound“ an eerie and otherworldly atmosphere.
Barnes wrote “Homeward Bound“ as well as “You Can’t Run From The Devil“ for the premiere of Danish author Janne Teller’s play “War. What if it were here?“
On "Near Exit 27" one can repeatedly discover references to popular culture, and thus it should come as no surprise that the album ends with a bow of the head to Texas songwriter Billy Joe Shaver. For the grand finale the record's entire instrumentation is being presented within the structure of one final song. The use of harmonium, vibraphone and brass turn “Shine Like A Diamond“ into an epic song and conclude an Americana album of dark, timeless beauty.
“Near Exit 27" will be released on March 10th, 2017 on their own record label "Barnes & Quincy".

Tracklisting:
01. Digger Barnes - What Will We Do (3:49)
02. Digger Barnes - Way of the Rover (3:37)
03. Digger Barnes - Keep on Rollin' (3:06)
04. Digger Barnes - Two Ringing Ears (4:30)
05. Digger Barnes - Dangerous Man (1:31)
06. Digger Barnes - 15 Years (3:23)
07. Digger Barnes - Soon I Will Hold You Again (2:51)
08. Digger Barnes - A Million Miles (4:28)
09. Digger Barnes - Oil-Stained Hank (2:04)
10. Digger Barnes - Winner & Loser (2:37)

As a ISRA.CLOUD's PREMIUM member you will have the following benefits:
  • Unlimited high speed downloads
  • Download directly without waiting time
  • Unlimited parallel downloads
  • Support for download accelerators
  • No advertising
  • Resume broken downloads
  • User offline
  • whiskers
  •  wrote in 16:22
    • Like
    • 0
Many Thanks
  • User offline
  • mufty77
  •  wrote in 00:05
    • Like
    • 0
Many thanks for lossless.