Kevin Barker – You & Me LP NEW W- MP3 Fashion

Kevin Barker – You & Me LP

NEW. SEALED.

Includes mp3 download of album.

Gnomonsong Records

What were you expecting from the guitarist for Vetiver? Doom metal? Reggaeton? It shouldn t come as any great shock to anyone that axeman Kevin Barker s first venture outside the Vetiver fold is full of lambent, low-key folk-rock very much in the vein of his Andy Cabic-led day job. Considering that fact that the aforementioned band is among the finest practitioner of the contemporary beard-band scene, and that Barker s liquid guitar tones play an important role in their sound, the similarity is nothing to despair over. Vetiver drummer Otto Hauser is on hand here, too, and Barker s gentle, California-dreaming vocals are not a million miles from those of Cabic, but there s (understandably) a greater emphasis on guitar work here. Within the confines of Vetiver, it s sometimes possible to forget what an accomplished musician Barker is, but from his Jerry Garcia-like tones on opening track Little Picture of You, to his deft, Mississippi John Hurt-style acoustic fingerpicking on the gently loping My Lady, You & Me makes sure his six-string gifts remain in the forefront of the listener s mind. And while the reigning mood of the album is one of warm, Southern California breezes and sun-splashed sojourns to the Pacific Ocean, other influences pop up along the way, particularly a fondness for British folk-rock that s displayed in the Fairport Convention-ish strains of I Will Fly and the moody, Bert Jansch-esque acoustic closing track, Bless You On Your Way. So don t criticize Barker for not diverging too far from the musical imprint he s made elsewhere, be be thankful instead that he plays to his strengths, something far too few musicians are wise enough to do these days.