Danny Barnes

The "woohoos" in "Sympathy for the Devil" have been begging for the high and lonesome treatment ever since the Stones laid them to tape in 1968. So when Danny Barnes launches into the tune five songs into Get Myself Together, it's nothing short of exhilarating. With just his banjo and...

By Noah W. Bailey

August 25, 2005

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The "woohoos" in "Sympathy for the Devil" have been begging for the high and lonesome treatment ever since the Stones laid them to tape in 1968. So when Danny Barnes launches into the tune five songs into Get Myself Together, it's nothing short of exhilarating. With just his banjo and some shit-hot fiddle from 19-year-old wunderkind Brittany Hess, Barnes delivers a rollicking bluegrass version of the tune that's sure to become a mixtape favorite. A Texpatriate now residing in the Pacific Northwest, Barnes has plowed his own peculiar path through America's musical heartland for over a decade now, first with his band the Bad Livers and more recently through solo projects and collaborations with kindred spirits like jazz guitarist Bill Frisell and bluegrass virtuoso Tim O' Brien. The best songs on Get Myself Together are covers, but Barnes also turns in some brave genre-bending originals, veering from the country scat of "Get Me Out of Jail" to the lo-fi hillbilly funk of "Cut a Rug" and "Cat to the Rat," which takes its name from a line in Cervantes' Don Quixote. But Barnes' talents shine brightest on his cover of Willie Johnson's "Let Your Light Shine On Me," which features a beautifully flatpicked intro alongside the debut of the Frigidairs, a gospel vocal quartet consisting solely of a multi-tracked Barnes.

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