Formerly of the avant-rock band The Slip, brothers Andrew and Brad’s music career began in Boston, Massachusetts, U.S., and in 2004 during a show in Montreal a fire broke out, which led to chance meeting of a resident Montréaler. Sealing a bond between the brothers and Montréal, the pair soon made the move and became neighbours with harpist Sarah Page and met multi-instrumentalist Andres Vial, who completed The Barr Brothers quartet.
The band’s eponymously-title debut album arrived in late 2011 by Secret City Records and introduced the public to the band’s harmony-driven vocals, illustrious strings and musical ambition. The album was led by single “Beggar In the Morning”, debuted on Paste Magazine, and due to the positive reviews led to a series of high-profile appearances. These included performing at the 2011 Osheaga Festival, an appearance on the Late Show with David Letterman in early 2012, the headlining artist on the main stage Scène TD de la Place des Festivals at the Montreal Jazz Festival and a show at Pickathon, the music festival in Happy Valley, Oregon, U.S.
In 2014 The Barr Brothers released their sophomore album “Sleeping Operator” which had an initial 40 songs whittled down to 13. With contributions from Arcade Fire’s Richard Reed Parry, Patrick Watson’s band and various members of the Luyas, the album introduces African and blues inflences. Spawning the songs “Half Crazy”, “Love Ain’t Enough” and “The Bear at the Window” The Barr Brothers go from strength to strength.
The Barr Brothers are signed to the Canadian label Secret City Records home to the likes of Owen Pallet and Miracle Fortress and rightfully so. The band is unsurprisingly made up of Andrew and Brad Barr of Montréal and a handful of other members including the undeniably endearing harpist Sarah Page. But what The Barr Brother produce sounds planted, like it has been carefully watered, tended and grown without pesticides, it’s been cared for, painstakingly crafted with love and culminated in this very moment. Due to this craftsmanship it’s no surprise to see the band tour with the likes of Jackson Browne and The War on Drugs.
The magic of the band is the plucking and picking of the harp and guitar, and how the drum keeps everything together and builds the power of the song up to new heights and if anything were removed the songs would somehow lose this magic and it would be a real shame. The band is so technically brilliant and connected you get the impression they would play the same way in front of 10 people as they would 10,000 people. Although the ambience of the small room and relatively few people made me feel taken care of, like they were singing and playing just for me and the elaborate ambience-creating sounds would be lost on larger audiences but none of their spirit, they have enough spirit and creativity to last a life time.
nicky-preston
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