RIYL: Grateful Dead, Veviter, Conor Oberst
Kevin Barker’s tenure as a sideman for the likes of Devendra Banhart, Joanna Newsom, Vashti Bunyan, Vetiver, and Espers appears to have prepped him well. On this, his first outing as a front man, Barker meshes the rustic perspective garnered from his well-heeled resume with an off-handed saunter that often recalls Jerry Garcia and the Grateful Dead in limber jam band mode.
Produced by Thom Monahan (Vetiver, Gary Louris), You And Me, assembles an all-star cast of nu-folk veterans, including Newsom, Pat Sansone (Wilco), Jonathan Wilson (Elvis Costello, Jenny Lewis), Eric Johnson (Shins, Fruit Bats), and Otto Hauser (Vetiver, Espers). The proceedings convene with Barker’s down-home intents on full view, the emphatic pluck and stomp of “Little Picture of You,” the low-lit gaze of “You & Me” and the modest shuffle of “Mountain & Bear” signaling Banhart’s intent to veer towards backwoods realms. Factor in the quiet saunter of “Amber” and the folk-infused delivery of “My Lady” and it becomes clear that Barker embodies both a wayfaring minstrel taken with traditional musings and a knowing musician whose work is underscored by an alternative inclination. (Gnomon Song 2009)
