Bleed Sound

Barefoot Truth is a reggae-acoustic folk-rock act out of Mystic, Conn. The band sets themselves apart with their jazz influence.

Whether it follows logic or not, New England has had a strange reputation for producing some great reggae-tinged indie acts over the years. Coming out of Mystic, Conn., rising roots-rock artists Barefoot Truth have been placing themselves on the radar lately, and tonight they played a sold-out show in Philadelphia.

That’s not quite as spectacular as it sounds – the Pennsylvania show is well within the band’s usual stomping grounds and the Upstairs section of the venue has a capacity of only 100. But the World Live Café stage the band took tonight appears to have some air of prominence and a respectable list of past and future artists.

The 100-person-capacity Upstairs stage is the more intimate of the Philadelphia venue’s two, and for fans lucky enough to be present, that makes the concert that much more genuine.

Click below to watch a video of the band performing their song “Solitude”at the venue Higher Ground in Burlington, Vt.

St. Patrick’s Day, 2010 I managed to bring Barefoot Truth to Bowling Green, OH for a free holiday show at the local venue, Clazel, and published two stories on the event in the BGSU newspaper, the BG News. I was fortunate enough to conduct two interviews with the band and had the opportunity to joke, compare musical tastes and discuss their experiences touring with Pete Francis (whom I will be seeing this June in Chicago as part of the Dispatch Spring Reunion Tour; get pumped!). The guys were really friendly and down to Earth and I thank them for taking the time to talk to me before I had really even developed anything in the way of credentials. Heady love, friends.

• Read descriptions of the band’s sound and the story of their growth in my preview article on the show.
• Read about their St. Patrick’s Day Show in Bowling Green in my BG News feature.

One of the most interesting elements of this band’s approach is their ability to blend jazz and reggae into something unique, as expressed by a source in my above feature. Many genres have been fused, reimagined and reinvented, but this particular combination was intriguingly original.

Watch the video below to listen to another Higher Ground performance with the title track off their latest LP “Threads.” The live version lacks the saxophone present in the studio, and it hurts, but the song still delivers nonetheless.

Lead vocalist Will Evans most commonly plays drums for the band – no easy task -though instrument swapping is a common Barefoot practice, illuminating their Dispatch influence.

The band has over 7 million spins on Pandora.com and received mention in the ending of a USA Today feature profiling the online radio site.

Barefoot’s “Threads” was also given a gushing review from Tony Gisondi, a fellow blogger whose musical taste I greatly respect, on his blog ThisIsModern.net.

If you’ve not yet had the opportunity to hear this hard working band from the salty East Coast, they’re definitely “Worth Your Listen.”

Tags: Barefoot Truth, blues, folk rock, indie rock, jazz, reggae, World Live Cafe

This entry was posted on Saturday, March 26th, 2011 at 3:15 am and is filed under News, Videos, Worth Your Listen. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.