Del Barber over for Tønder Festival Friendly Takeover Ruby and Friends in Copenhagen

Del Barber is a singer-songwriter from the prairies of Manitoba who has been nominated three times for a Juno Award. Like Colter Wall, he’s no stranger to singing about farming, ranching and other things common to life on the Canadian prairies.

For his new album Almanac, Barber and his road band went into the studio in Winnipeg, 400 miles from his home. Of the new album, he said, “There were no grand intentions, just an aim to get good friends and players together and record a pile of my songs. Going into this session I really wanted to enjoy the process, not think too hard, and just keep it simple and honest. I had a group of great songs and I really didn’t want to stand in their way.” He is right on in his assessment that he had a group of great songs.

You don’t need to go very deep into the album to realize that Barber has some similarity to John Prine in the way he presents the stories in these songs. One good example is in “Still Got You.” In this song, while picking on an acoustic guitar Barber celebrates things like tending his tomatoes and sorting socks. He ties the song together with the line “the whole world goes to shit, well, I still got you.”

Almanac is the kind of record that can be misunderstood if listened to too quickly. Barber offers homilies only to expose their inherent contradictions. He’s not a naysayer—sometimes his adages hold up—but one who understands the importance of questioning received wisdom.

In July Del Barber is over for one show in Europe:
05/07: Copenhagen, DK - Tønder Festival Friendly Takeover Ruby and Friends