Barry Walsh: Press

World traveler and musical explorer Barry Walsh has done many things and made music with some extraordinary figures, but only now has he composed and recorded a solo instrumental album. The 11 original piano works on Walsh's new CD The Crossing are serene, airy and cyclical, but they have a gravity born of their inspiration in specific experiences.

"The title is a metaphor for the changes that have happened in my life in the last three years," says Walsh. "A long-time marriage ended, and a new relationship began with a singer-songwriter I've known for many years."

That would be Nashville artist Gretchen Peters, author of hits such as "Independence Day" and whose critically acclaimed recent CD Burnt Toast & Offerings investigated the birth of the new relationship with the candor and clarity of a poet. On The Crossing, Walsh offers his take on the story in the universal language of spare, elegant instrumental music, a telling that's more abstract but no less emotionally potent.

The title track takes the long view on the journey he and Peters made together and toward each other with a suspenseful pulse in the high register and a breath of release and relief at the end. The delicate second cut "Leaving Newcastle" was named for a special place shared on tours in the UK. During a two-week separation, when Peters was in England and Walsh was home alone composing, he conceived the album's wistful "To See You Again." The CD closes with the Erik Satie influenced "The Steps Of The Parthenon," a reference to the Parthenon replica in Nashville, long a meeting place for local lovers.

Walsh has been a professional musician for more than three decades, and in that time he's performed with Roy Orbison, Jimmy Webb and Al Green, and he's written songs that were recorded by Waylon Jennings, Jessi Colter and the Amazing Rhythm Aces. Currently, in addition to touring extensively with Peters, Walsh plays keyboards for the recently revived Memphis rock and soul band The Box Tops, featuring Alex Chilton.

The decision to step forward with a solo work after so many years of supporting others allows these many influences, as well as Walsh's many travels and life epiphanies to come together in a style he can claim as his own.

The Crossing was recorded at Walsh's home on a Kimball Viennese Edition grand piano with touches of backing by cellist David Henry and guitarist Mark Selby. Walsh's Labrador Retriever Nigel lay motionless at the feet of Selby as he overdubbed on an as yet untitled song. It was duly named "Nigel's Blues" in his honor.

The recording breathes with expansive, roomy warmth, and the music captures the bittersweet reverberations of adults changing course.

Barry Walsh
The Crossing (Scarlet Letter Records 207141-2) ***
Barry Walsh is probably familiar to a good many Maverick readers, as for the past eighteen years he has played keyboards for Gretchen Peters and accompanied her on most of her UK tours. Now he steps into the spotlight with his solo album of deftly played piano pieces. He plays a Grand piano, and apart from Erik Satie's Je Te Veux, all the tunes have been penned by Barry and several were inspired by his tours in the UK like the delicate and reflective Leaving Newcastle and the more grandiose Exeter Cathedral. Though recorded in Nasville, this has no connection to country music, but just might be of interest to Gretchen Peters' fans.

Terrific sidemen are the unsung heroes of the music world. Barry Walsh is a piano virtuoso whose gifts at the keyboard have added so much to the music of the Box Tops and singer-songwriter Gretchen Peters, as they did in the past for Roy Orbison, Jimmy Webb and Al Green. Mr. Walsh has released a solo album of his own compositions, and it's nothing short of spellbinding. He admits being influenced by Bach, and it shows. This is not a pop album, nor is it New Age. Rather, it has elements of classical, jazz and blues, and it takes you on a mesmerizing journey. Mr. Walsh has circumvented the genre of solo piano recordings by slowing down the pace and letting the individual pieces speak for themselves. And they do, loudly and lyrically.

Barry Walsh has been a professional musician for more than three decades, and in that time he's performed with Roy Orbison, Jimmy Webb and Al Green, and he's written songs that were recorded by Waylon Jennings, Jessi Colter and the Amazing Rhythm Aces. Currently, in addition to touring extensively with singer-songwriter Gretchen Peters (over ten UK tours since 2001), Walsh plays keyboards for the recently revived Memphis rock and soul band The Box Tops, featuring Alex Chilton.

The Crossing was recorded at Walsh's home on a Kimball Viennese Edition grand piano with touches of backing by cellist David Henry and guitarist Mark Selby. Walsh's Labrador Retriever Nigel lay motionless at the feet of Selby as he overdubbed on an as yet untitled song. It was duly named "Nigel's Blues" in his honor.

I have to confess to being one of those people who never really 'got' music without lyrics. However, maybe as a result having been mesmerized so many times watching him play with Gretchen, I was eagerly anticipating the release of this album. On first listen, what was immediately obvious was the emotion that had gone into these beautiful pieces of music. Even before reading about the album, it is apparent that each one came from a personal place, be it experience of affinity.

The latter is true of 'Je Te Veux.' Barry comments of the track, "This is an Erik Satie (the French composer) piece, and the only song I didn't write on the CD. I have been playing Satie's music for 40 years."

That, therefore leads us to the rest of the album, Walsh's own compositions. The Title song, 'The Crossing,' a metaphor for the changes in two lives over a period of time, one of which was his own. Angel of Repose' was the title of one of his favorite books, by Wallace Stegner and 'Years May Go By' was inspired by a line in a Rikki Lee Jones song. The obvious love for England which has grown over his years of playing here is evidenced in the fact that two songs on the album refer to UK cities; the haunting 'Leaving Newcastle' and 'Exeter Cathedral', the melody of which remains with you long after the final piano chord is played.

Barry Walsh truly is one of the most remarkable and intuitive musicians I have ever had the pleasure to watch and he has created his own piece of magic in his first CD release. I am hoping that when he tours here with Gretchen this year we may be given the opportunity to hear even just one of these tracks performed live - maybe 'Leaving Newcastle' in the city which it honours. In the meanwhile this Cd will continue to have heavy rotation on my CD player and I only hope there are more where this came from. Apparently I do 'get' music without lyrics after all.

Barry Walsh has been making music professionally for more than thirty years. Most of that has been spent in Nashville recording studios. In recent years he has been touring in support of singer and songwriter Gretchen Peters, and with Alex Chilton and the Box Tops. His past history includes backing up Roy Orbison and Jimmy Webb, and writing songs that Waylon Jennings and The Amazing Rhythm Aces, among others, have recorded.

Thanks in part to encouragement from Peters, Walsh has now gotten around to recording his first solo album, and it has something none of those credits noted above would likely prepare you for. Original, mostly just Walsh and his piano, it is music that draws on both Bach and folk, and remains true to the voice of this artist. Without the first word being said, Walsh speaks clearly and movingly of connection, discovery, love's questions and love's certainties, and the varied landscapes of thought and emotion. David Henry adds masterful cello on several tracks, including the opening title cut, and Mark Selby brings in guitar on Nigel's Blues. The only cover is a twice imagined take on Erik Satie's Je Te Vieux, a piece which Walsh presents as at once somber and seeing the possibility of joy. It fits in perfectly with the rest of the collection.

For lovers of acoustic music, this promises to be quite a week in Fort Worth. It all gets started Wednesday night, when a trio of virtuoso guitarists (Tommy Emmanuel, Monte Montgomery and Rhett Butler) team up for a show at Bass Performance Hall at 7:30. It carries with it a special $10 ticket offer for students and faculty. But like a fine wine, the week only gets better with age. The Sarah Palin-Joe Biden debate notwithstanding, John Gorka comes to McDavid Studio (across the street from Bass Hall) for one of his one-of-a-kind shows at 7 p.m. Thursday. And then, one of my personal favorites, the great Gretchen Peters, finishes off the week with a show in McDavid Studio at 8 p.m. Friday. Gretchen will be backed up, as usual, by one of the world's greatest piano players, Barry Walsh. For more information, call 817-212-4280 or visit www.basshall.com.

Among the thrills of going to a concert is leaving with one song whose words and melody won't get out of your head. It's usually a new song, and being among the first to hear it is one of the thrills of live performance. I got to hear two on Friday night, July 17, and can't stop thinking about either. The incomparable Gretchen Peters, who headlined that night at Uncle Calvin's Coffeehouse, played a new song titled "Mother," which she wrote for a CD tribute to the activist, Mary Harris "Mother" Jones. Despite enormous personal tragedy (she lost her husband and their four children in a yellow fever epidemic and later lost her shop, her home and all her possessions in the Great Chicago Fire), Mother Jones rallied American miners and championed workers' rights like no one ever had. "You were the Madonna of the mines/our Lady of the Picket Lines," Peters sang, to terrific accompaniment by Barry Walsh, her keyboardist, accordion player and fiancé. I'm often skeptical of warm-up acts, so I was pleasantly surprised to hear John Fullbright, whose hometown is Okemah, Okla., the same as Woody Guthrie. The parallels don't stop there. Fullbright looks a lot like Woody, sounds a lot like Woody, and from early indications, writes a lot like Woody. His song "The High Road" is a tale of an extraordinary love. Jack and Suzy are young lovers but share a bond so strong and enduring that it underscores the power of Fullbright's lyrics, which state, "Living comes natural to many/love comes naturally to few ... you take the high road to freedom/And I'll take the low road to you." It was a gift getting to hear such a magical young talent perform. I hope we have many more such chances in the future. Woody would be proud: He could not have a better clone.

As the Director of Entertainment for the Memphis Italian Festival, I was honored and pleased to have the Box tops as our headline act. Their professionalism was unmatched. They played before an estimated crowd of over 20,000 people and brought the house down. Their Music selection was superb and appealed to every age group present. Their vocals were clear and the harmony was perfect pitch. The band was tight and well rehearsed and the individual solos were very appealing and tasteful. They were a pleasure to work with and bent over backwards to accommodate our requests. I highly recommend this band and can say they truly made me shine amongst my peers.

Ernie Vescovo