Jill Barber Interview: SXSW 2010

Jill Barber's latest CD, 'Chances,' brings the world back to a pleasant 1950s mood. Born in Toronto and settling in Nova Scotia the past several years, Barber has impressed fans of her folk-styled music with a guitar, a soulful voice and beautifully written songs. Lucky for her, she has the luxury of touring with her brother, pop-folk performer Matthew Barber. After her current tour through the Canadian provinces, Jill will take on SXSW, grabbing the Southwestern hearts of us all.

Describe your sound in your own words.

A friend of mine actually assigned me a genre, and that's smoky folky. That's how I would describe my music, my genre.

How did you form your band?

My band started as a duo. Les Cooper is someone I knew through the community and I started working with him and he helped me assemble my full band with some great players I had worked with.

What are your musical influences?

My influences vary between kind of like old-time jazz and country, like right up to friends of mine, like contemporary singer-songwriters that are making great music. My brother is a big influence on me. He's a great songwriter. And there's an amazing Canadian music scene, so I'm kind of biased. I feel like there's some amazing music being made in Canada right now. So, it's a balance between old old music and brand-new music.

What's your biggest vice?

Red wine [laughs], specifically expensive red wine. Yeah, that's an easy one to answer.

What's in your festival survival kit?

I rent a bicycle. That's my secret to not going crazy at SXSW. I can scoot around and get away from the festival in a hurry. If I need to go down by the river, there's amazing trails down there. That's definitely my secret survival -- bicycle.

What's your musical guilty pleasure?

Andrew Lloyd Webber. He's the coolest, yeah. I guess I get made fun of a great deal for that in the touring van.

What's the craziest thing you've seen or experienced while on tour?

Well, it's usually driving treacherous Canadian roads. We spin out of control and still manage to survive somehow. We must have the gods looking out for us as musicians because driving can be a treacherous thing -- but especially in our Canadian winters. We have to contend with lots of snow and crazy, winding mountain roads. So I've seen a lot of crazy things from within the touring van.

Would you consider your audience to be more girls-based or neutral?

I think it's guys and gals. The one thing you would definitely notice about my audience is that it's all ages. It's really common for older people to come out to see my play. It's not just a youth thing. I know SXSW is a really youthful festival. But for me, it's a real mix of ages. It's definitely a mix of guys and girls; I mean, lots of couples come to see me play because it's kind of romantic music that I write. It can get you in the mood; it's a good date.

Do you see much difference between the Canadian and the US crowds?

I kind of think that music fans are sort of tied together through a love for music. I haven't played a ton in the US, but I have played at SXSW; I think this is my fufth year. The crowds at SXSW tend to be pretty young and full of energy. But I think maybe Canadian crowds are more reserved than American crowds. Even though Canadians are such Americans in general.


Annette Villareal is a contributor from Seed.com. Learn how you can contribute here.