Bobby Bare, Jr and Father Pay Tribute to Shel Silverstein

Posted on Dec 1st 2008 4:00PM by Benjy Eisen
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The holiday season is designed for us to embrace an attitude of gratitude. It's also a time to be with family. In the Bare household, father Bobby Bare and son Bobby Bare, Jr. certainly have lots to be thankful for: successful careers, hit songs, lasting friendships. And while their respective musical paths have often been intentionally distinct from one another, father and son Bare are teeming up once again to celebrate all of these things, in the form of a tribute album to a close friend of the family: the late Shel Silverstein.

"I have always tried to not work in the same world as my dad, even though they are comparable," Bare Jr. tells Spinner. "It's like he sells trucks and I sell motorcycles."

Nonetheless, the Bare boys have collaborated on projects since Junior was a toddler (earning his first Grammy nomination at the age of six for a father-son duet ... on a song Silverstein wrote). "Shel was my father's best friend and a mentor to me," explains Jr. "He critiqued every song I wrote, until he died."

In honor of Silverstein -- who, perhaps, is better known as a children's author, artist and poet than a musician -- the Bares are executive producing a tribute disc, scheduled for release sometime next year. Rumored participants include some of Dad's peers (George Jones, Ray Price, Emmylou Harris) and, of course, some of Son's cronies (My Morning Jacket, Dr. Dog, Andrew Bird, Band of Horses). Of extra special note, members of the Silver Jews are said to back Kris Kristofferson on a track. It's a pairing that, in some ways, mirrors father and son Bare.

"I do shows with 'independent' rock bands and he does shows 'in Depends,'" jokes Jr. "But seriously, I love working with my dad."