For many, fall and winter provide a chance to recalibrate and reminisce about the past year. Fall is also when many Homecomings occur, and schools welcome back alumni to celebrate their shared history. When Minneapolis-based band Barbaro performed at the Cedarburg Performing Arts Center in Cedarburg, Wisconsin, at the end of September, it was a homecoming for vocalist and guitarist Kyle Shelstad, a Cedarburg native.
“I grew up in Cedarburg, so being able to spend some time back home and see a bunch of friends and family was a lot of fun,” says Shelstad. “When I was 18, I ended up moving away and I’m kind of back in the area now [in Milwaukee], but it took me 15 or so years to get back here.”
Growing up in Cedarburg instilled a love for music, he says. He was in various choirs in middle and high school, and also did a handful of plays and musicals, most of which were at the same Performing Arts Center stage. In addition, he saw a variety of musical acts at the PAC, including Bruce Hornsby, Preservation Hall Jazz Band, and Ladysmith Black Mambazo, thanks to their visiting artist series.
“I got to see different things like that that were really cool to experience at a young age,” he says. “Just seeing artists and then doing workshops and asking questions and learning more about the industry and what it is to be a musician. I think that’s a pretty unique experience to have in a public school system.”
“To come from being a kid seeing these artists that I admire performing on the stage to then going and doing it myself, it was kind of a nice little full circle moment. It was fun because a bunch of my family and friends got to be there, and so I had the opportunity to try to convince my mom that what I’m doing isn’t entirely crazy. So, it was nice.”
Likewise, when the band – also featuring Rachel Calvert (vocals and fiddle) and Jason Wells (bass) as well as special guests Ben Lester (pedal steel) and Aaron Smith (banjo) – was presented with the opportunity to film a session for Water Tower Sessions, it felt natural to use the same space to film a session.
“We chose that location because we were together, essentially. I live in Milwaukee, Jason and Rachel live in Minneapolis,” says Shelstad. “So, getting together to do these types of things and even rehearse isn’t easy. Most of our rehearsals happen at soundcheck or in the green room before a show, so it just kind of seemed natural to do it when we were all together. And the Cedarburg Performing Arts Center is a really nice facility, a great sounding room, and we thought it would be a good fit for this video.”
The band recorded the live session during their soundcheck, with the help of local filmmaker Noah Hurley. Hurley works frequently with the Performing Arts Center and was shooting promo video for their concert series. Fortunately, “he was nice enough to take the time out of his day to shoot this video for us,” says Shelstad.
With Hurley filming, Barbaro performed three songs – “One By One,” “Let’s Talk About The Winter,” and “Apples to Apples” – off their latest album About The Winter, which is out tomorrow October 20. The band chose the songs as they flow well together being played back-to-back as a suite. The songs showcase the band’s affinity for fusing bluegrass, Americana, jazz, and classical music together, and each has a “pretty strong emotional connection to them.”
“When we perform them live, they fit really nicely as a suite,” says Shelstad. “We really like performing this live because it is a bit of a journey for us, and we try and involve the listener on that journey as well.”
“Also, the songs create kind of a dialogue between two people in a relationship from ‘One By One’ to kind of the turbulent, yet peaceful ‘Let’s Talk About The Winter,’ and then kind of resolves with ‘Apples to Apples.’ We just enjoy how the meanings of the songs and the lyrics create this dialogue and fit really nicely together.”
Shelstad and his bandmates feel that things really clicked with their rendition of the songs for the session. He feels that sometimes when performing a song, “you’re reaching to find that original inspiration or that original feeling you got when you first played the song.” Fortunately, their collective feeling is that they did just that and found that ability to create music that moved not only them but they hope listeners and viewers of the video.
“It’s a lot of fun when the five of us connected with that,” he says. “I think with the music we were able to deliver really nicely the message and the impact that it has on, well, me and each of us.”
“I think just the way we performed those three songs in this particular instance was really close to the performance and the energy that we captured in the studio [version] itself. So that’s why I’m really excited to share it because I think it’s a great representation of these songs and how they come across on the album.”
For Wells, the band’s new songs showcase their versatility using different instrumentation.
“One thing that’s been happening with these newer songs is we’ve been able to add different instruments for different shows, different recordings than the quartet that we initially had for the first album,” he says.
“Of course, we performed the songs as a four-piece and we were able to have mandolin for that first album, but to have a pedal steel on the recording and have our friend Ben join us really allowed us to hear the songs in a different way…I think that was our third time playing with him and just kind of hearing what pedal steel can add to the songs was an interesting process I think for us all. So, in that way it was really nice, and also seeing all the support for Kyle in his hometown was fun.”
We caught up with Shelstad and Wells to talk about the Cedarburg performance, the band’s new music, the advantages of having multiple vocalists, and sharing their music around the country and world.
What did you like most about performing at the Performing Arts Center?
Wells: With playing shows and traveling around, we start to notice some of the small details about each place that you go that end up standing out. And weirdly enough, I think one of the things at the Performing Arts Center that I noticed was that the acoustics were particularly good. I felt like the sound on the stage and the sound was really good that night. And as a performer playing on different stages all the time, those are the things that can really matter. So, we were able to put out one of our better performances because of that. And it is nice to kind of be back in that area. I’ve performed in that area before, but the crowd had a great energy to it, which also helped to make the performance really special in that way.
We got to meet a lot of Kyle’s folks. They all showed up en masse for the concert, so it was fun to see Kyle’s reaction to performing in front of his family. I don’t want to speak for Kyle, but those types of performance feel different. And I could speak from my experience when my family is at shows. That’s how it feels. So, for me personally, the Kalamazoo show on our upcoming tour will kind of feel similar to this show because a lot of my family are planning to make a drive out to come and see us. So, there’s always a little bit of extra weight on those shows. I would say it’s interesting getting a little bit of taste of the support network. Whenever any of our support networks come to the show, you feel a little bit more at home. It’s a hard venture to do, so it’s nice to [have a concert with people you know there.]
The band has a very eclectic acoustic based sound that lets you dabble in various genres. How would you describe the band’s sound and what about that wide range and sound appeals to you?
Shelstad: Well, this album has been described as pastoral Americana, which I’m not exactly sure what that means, but I like the way it sounds. I think all of us in the group bring such a wide varying amount of musical interests and upbringing. Jason’s history with music, Rachel’s upbringing in music and interests in music, compared to mine, are dramatically different. We all kind of have our own things that we like to listen to, but we all have the same goal when we present these songs.
The dynamics is a big part of it and trying to elicit some sort of emotional response within the performance, trying to get the audience to engage with it just as much as I think for me personally. I try and engage with it to elicit some sort of emotional response within me. And so that’s what I really enjoy about these tunes and how they turned out. I think they’re a great representation of where we’re at creatively, how we hear music and how we want to present it to people.
The band also has multiple vocalists in Kyle and Rachel, which also gives you the ability to further diversify your sound. How do you think that dynamic has evolved on this new album?
Wells: Since Rachel’s been a part of the band, we’ve done shows where Rachel has sung covers and things like that, and they’ve always been a part of the show that the audience really responded to. So, it was kind of a natural progression of things to then have Rachel singing on some of the original songs. And it’s kind of nice to have different singers. And also for the health of the singers, it’s nice to be able to have breaks in the set where you’re not really singing out for two hours every night, especially on a tour to help save the voice.
But it’s been great to see how the album has flowed with that dynamic. And I think Kyle and Rachel bring a completely different energy to the songs for a number of reasons. Their voices are just very different. They’re complimentary, but very different. So, by nature of having the two, it just gave us a wider palette to work with on this album.
Shelstad: Totally. We came into this project with the goal of getting Rachel to sing more original tunes. So, when we were workshopping these songs with her singing some of them, it just came very naturally and seemed like the obvious choice, not only with how some of these melodies fit within Rachel’s range but I think how she delivers them. When it’s coming from a female vocalist along with Rachel’s delivery, it changes some meaning and creates a new meaning to the song. So that was really fun. They kind of take on a new life and have a new purpose. And then on the album kind of arranging this track listing allowed us to develop a bit of dialogue, kind of back and forth between the two different voices.
One of the band’s goals for the album’s sound was to showcase something greater than the sum of its parts. Why was that an important goal and how does the album’s title factor into that?
Shelstad: I think a big goal of this group has always been to take everybody’s influences…to help us define ourselves as a unit. In regard to the name of the album itself, that just kind of has more to do with the environment that it was recorded in, kind of the feel of the album where I think there’s a coziness to it and yet a loneliness or a longing as well, which makes us think of winter. I mean, we all live in northern climates and have to deal with the winters. And they can be really hard and there’s moments where they can be really peaceful and beautiful. So that’s kind of why we thought it would be a good fit for the title in defining this collection of songs.
The band recorded with Brian Joseph at Hive Studio in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. How did he and that studio most impact the songs?
Wells: Making the songs at the studio was a real joy of ours. I guess it’s the way that he set up the atmosphere for the songs to really develop and what’s instrumental in the songs coming out the way that they did. So, we of course had the outlines on the songs and have been performing them already, but they took on a different life once we got into the studio space. So, for us, it was a magical week working, going into the studio and just really being creative and coming up with the sound organically.
During the Cedarburg show, Kyle mentioned that you recently went on a federally sponsored international tour. How did that come about and what was the goal of that tour?
Shelstad: Yeah. So that was American Music Abroad. It’s a tour set up through the U.S. Department of State where every year they select 10 acts to travel internationally and play music. So, we got to go to Qatar, Turkey, and Bulgaria to play the music. Within that, there were public performances and some workshops that we did with students, which was a lot of fun. We got to go into schools in Turkey, meet music students, play with them, try and share some of our experiences along with learning a bit about them and their own experiences. So that was my favorite part, was spending time with students.
It sounds like “Gardens” was written during that trip. Can you talk about how that one came together and how the surroundings inspired that one?
Shelstad: It wasn’t technically written there, but we did get a really nice recording of it in Bulgaria where we were up in this town and the town had a lot of history and was kind of nuzzled into a hillside. So, I think if anything, the landscape just gave it a little bit of new meaning for us, just as I think recording this album in the winter in Eau Claire had a lot to do with the final product and how it sounds. So, it’s fun to see how environments can change perspective or bring meaning to songs that we’re playing.
In addition to filming the session and performing in Cedarburg, you also got to spend some time with local students. What was that experience like working with them?
Wells: Working with students is one of the things that I wouldn’t say we often get the opportunity to do, but we really enjoy that aspect when we do have the opportunity of doing that. It’s something that we did quite a bit of when we were touring with AMA, and it was nice to get to do that again here back in the States. And my impression of the workshop was that the students were very genuine and open and responded so openly and honestly to what we had to say and in the music that we were sharing.
And it always kind of brings the classic kind of cheesy, warm, fuzzy feeling to your heart when you’re working with kids and have them come up and ask questions about their music journey afterwards and any kind of help that we’re able to give. It was really kind of a special moment for each of us. And also, I’ll note that we invited the kids to kind of come and join us on the song. We’ve done that several times and we’ve never gotten as many kids to participate as we did in that workshop, which was kind of a special moment for me personally.
Anything else that people should know about the band or album?
Shelstad: I think we really in some ways found ourselves on this album, discovered the sound that we can all relate to an extent, and we’re just really excited for people to hear it. I’m really proud of how it turned out, and this has been an album that I’ve been waiting much of my life to record. So, I just hope people enjoy it and I hope people listen. It’s just something I’m proud of, which is nice to say.
Was there a song or songs that had the greatest impact on the direction of the album?
Shelstad: Yeah, I’d say “Let’s Talk About The Winter” definitely had a big impact. When we started messing around with that song, we started to see kind of what this album could be and how we can make it uniquely our own. Also, I think “Apples to Apples” was kind of where my eyes opened to what the possibilities were sonically for this album.
The band is going on tour around the country later this year. What are you most looking forward to with that tour?
Shelstad: Yeah, we’re going on a three-week tour to support this album and I’m just excited to play in some new places. We’ve spent some time in Tennessee and the Carolinas and things like that, but spending a lot of time in the northeast should be fun. We’ve got a show in Toronto, so we’re going to Canada, which we’re excited about. It’s just a new opportunity to spread this music, get in front of some new people and play with some new musicians along the way.
Joshua is co-founder of Scummy Water Tower. He’s freelanced for a variety of newspapers, magazines, and websites, including: Rolling Stone, The Boston Globe, Chicago Sun-Times, Guitar World, MTV News, Grammy.com, Chicago Magazine, Milwaukee Magazine, MKE Lifestyle, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, A.V. Club, SPIN, Alternative Press, Under the Radar, Paste, PopMatters, American Songwriter, and Relix. You can email him at josh@scummywatertower.com.
