Tim Barry is a brawlin’, rowdy, rough around the edges troubadour – with a songbook filled with gravely Tom Waits-ian stories of Americana, each translated by a man with an undying punk rock heart.
Barry is an artist who has found a second life as an acoustic guitar toting singer/songwriter. With brash lyrics about heartbreak, drugs, and bastards. He writes slice of life stories with plain spoken, father-to-son type metaphors: “Well, my girl got me like tile work/And laid me the first time right/So she could walk all over me/For the rest of her damn life.”
Barry first life was the lead singer of the hugely influential punk band Avail. They blew up out of the Richmond, Virginia underground punk scene of the late 1980’s. Over the next decade and a half the band would release six albums and four EP’s, before going on hiatus in 2002 (then disbanding completely, after a short reunion in 2008). The band is still revered for the impact they had on an underground punk scene that was influencing a lot of young musicians at a very important time in music. It was artsy anti-establishment scenes like Richmond’s and many other like-minded scenes filled with like-minded individuals that led to alt-rock boom of the early to mid-90’s.
Since 2005, Barry has mellowed the music – but not the vitriol in his songs, they still bite with cunning. He continues to write with unabashed sarcasm, wit, and disdain, however, now it’s more personal and offers some insight from a man of experience. The quiet acoustic shows are a far cry from the mosh-pits he used to insight, but for a middle aged punk kid he seems to be a wonderful fit.
Tim Barry is playing Haymarket Whiskey Bar, tomorrow May 22nd. The show is at 8:00 PM and tickets are $12. Two Cow Garage and John Paul White will also be performing.
(Photo provided by Barry)
