ATLANTIC STORIES

                                                                 

This is it! I am finally on the plane to our beloved Halifax. (Porter airline which leaves from the island airport in Toronto is only minutes from my door!).
 My history with the city and the province is a long one. Way back when Daniel and I were fresh out of high school we made an East Coast swing with our Jazz Cabaret trio that included both St John's and Halifax and made for some wonderful memories.  It was then that the idea for the song "I'm Coming Home" (from the latest disc "Domesticated") was born, during a walk by the rough grandeur of the Atlantic ocean.
  I visited to perform often during my time with The Nylons and Marc Conners and I always agreed that Halifax was our favorite Canadian city (outside of Montreal of course!). The size, the history, the close knit sense of community really attracted both of us and we day dreamed about moving from our crowded Toronto lives to a kinder gentler place.

                                                                     
The last time I performed in Halifax was a few years ago as a solo artist  at the Rebecca Cohen Theatre on tour with jazz diva Molly Johnson. I had returned from California with a little disc under my arm that Molly fell in love with and she promptly invited me out to open the show and join her singing back up on her national tour. Halifax was a sweet stop for us and I vowed to return as soon as it was possible.

Thanks to a couple of dear friends in the business I am now back on the plane heading east and I can't wait to see old friends, meet new ones and enjoy the vibes  as I play shows and coach workshops through the week.

St FX Wed Nov 28th
Stayner's Thurs Nov 29th
Details up at http://www.facebook.com/events/332163900212546

Join the adventures on twitter!https://twitter.com/micahbarnes

The Grand Piano

                                                  Liberty Village to Queen West

 I grew up in a skinny dark victorian house in The Annex area of downtown Toronto. It seems that all of the houses had an old out of tune upright piano left over from earlier days in what would have been the parlor.
                                    An old fashioned home entertainment system!

That's how I grew up playing the piano to accompany myself on those glorious standards in my parents music books.  For some reason when I play an electric keyboard it all becomes intellectual compared to when I lay my hands on an actual instrument and can "feel" the sound.

     My father Milton Barnes was a classical composer and so one would assume that he would have worked on a real piano. It was always a heartache to me that he created all that beautiful music on an electric piano, and I always vowed that one day I would own and play a grand piano. So when brother composer and drummer Daniel needed to move out of his Liberty Village studio this month I made the purchase of the baby grand that has graced his studio these past years.

Perfect timing.  I am right at the place in the writing of new material where working on a real piano could deepen and open up the musical possibilities. Besides supporting my composing life the piano also gets to aid in the support of my clients at my Singers Playground coaching studio.

What every artist needs..... The best tools available to create with.
Here's to you Miltie!

 http://www.micahbarnes.com
http://www.singersplayground.com

On The "Cover" Tune.

                                                                     

              People often ask me how I pick which tunes to cover. Usually I start with being attracted to the words and melody on an intellectual level. I always have to learn and sing through a tune before I know whether it's something I can make my own.  I find myself having to live with a song a long time before it really feels like I'm singing my own experience. But once that happens it can really and truly feel like I "own" the song.
          In particular I am  attracted by the richness and depth of the jazz ballad  A powerful musical tradition that I first understood from the intimate voodoo of Billie Holiday first and a little later Nat King Cole's rich and intelligent dreaminess. The "American Standards" tradition has overplayed some of these gems but that doesn't take away from the brilliant construction and magic of songs like "Body and Soul", "Lush Life" and "Lover Man": Sacred texts that bear exploring over the course of a lifetime.
            In my early teens while learning the standards I was really attracted to the irreverence of Fats Waller. The sheer force of his comic personality overcame the 30's tin pan alley triteness with a rollicking bawdy combination of humor and virtuosity that really captivated my imagination.  In my current set Fats is well represented by "A Porter's Love Song To A Chambermaid" as a joyful counterpoint to the more moody stuff.
            Also included in the current batch are songs by a very different kind of musical personality, Smokey Robinson, a man who Bob Dylan once called "America's Greatest Poet" Smokey's grace with a lyric and soulful delivery were an early contribution to the Motown factory system that set the standard for everything to come.
         These days I am also featuring favorite songs by Cole Porter, also an early inspiration, having written both words and music to his clever ditties, which were so key to moving the popular song from the dusty parlor into swinging Broadway and nightlife of the 30's. Writing in New York allowed me to drink in last years excellent Broadway revival of "Anything Goes" a few times.

Mr Porter's music was considered edgy and hip back in the day but they still speak to the restless romantic spirit today.
Stay in the loop on upcoming live shows and upcoming recordings on the  Facebook Fan Page

And hear the developing adventures first hand at   Twitter

To download Micah's latest disc "Domesticated" please log onto  Itunes