Sunday night at 7 pm, in a wintry East Lansing full of students returning to MSU from their holiday break, the Unitarian Universalist Church was rocking, rolling, folking and clapping.Barb Barton, musician friends and their instruments stormed the night with 2 sets of the fabulous tracks from Barb's new release, Turtle Dove.
This is a breakout CD. National (nay, international) attention needs to be paid to the rich, vibrant, earthy, full collection of Barton's new material. This CD - the fifth for Barton - is personal, open, tender, fierce and thunderfying. There wasn't a sound in the hall during Thanksgiving in Texas, and not a single eye stayed completely dry during Indiana Hills, a song that Barb wrote to honor her Grandmother Barton.
Like a good movie, a fantastic read, a gripping life event, Barb arranged the tunes on the Turtle Dove CD to give us listeners a rollercoaster ride of emotional highs, grief, relief and fun.
Michiganderians know to wear layers in January, and by the second set, we had the top two on the back of our chairs, standing, clapping, singing the repeat chorus. By the end of the concert, singing along to Listen to the Music, the celebrants were on their feet, dancing, laughing and rejoicing in the night and the music and the gifts of this songwriter/musician.
Driving home, we made an attempt to close the debate on which song is our favorite. Couldn't do it. We'd decide, then say, "Wait, play this one again. Which track is One Less Star? Play that. NO! I'm listening to Predator and Prey."
Barb wrote (except for three well-chosen covers), arranged, produced, mixed and engineered Turtle Dove. This level of accomplishment is going to come in handy in the near future. She's going to be gettin' busy on the road with the new Turtle Dove CD.
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