photos by Kyle Johnson
Bobby Bare Jr. is from Nashville and though he prides himself on being a Tennessee musician, he doesn’t feel the need to stay within the boundaries of any particular type of music that many other musicians from area restrict themselves to. While his roots are evident (and they go back further than himself; he’s the son of country musician Bobby Bare), Bare Jr.’s music breaks away from Tennessee country and folk in many regards. Over the years, his music has featured elements of psychedelia, punk, straight-up electrified rock and roll, as well as a kind of jazz fusion. He even lacks a strong accent, and though if you know where he’s from, you can pick out the Tennessee in him, an unknowing listener might have a hard time placing him as belonging to one tradition or another. His latest album A Storm, A Tree, My Mother’s Head was released earlier this year. For his current tour, and to play live from the Doug Fir during KEXP’s broadcast from Musicfest NW, Bobby convinced tourmates Blue Giant to back him up. The whole crew performed songs from Bobby’s latest albums and a few older classics.
