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| Barry's Music Page
Welcome to my Music page. Here you will find information about various bands with which I have performed, and MP3 versions of music I have recorded. I've also included some informtion on my wife's band, the Dunton Sisters. Click on the blue, underlined links. I started learning to play bluegrass in 1971 and have performed in a number of groups since, plus branching out into related music forms such as folk, oldtime, and early country.
Please NOTE: use Internet Explorer. I have found that other browsers may not play the pieces here completely (Any wonder? This is a Microsoft brand website). Also, if a link won't load, try copying and pasting it into your web browser address line. If you have other problems, please let me know!
I hope you enjoy these recordings which represent a sample of the different bands and individuals with whom I have played. It's been a blast! While I encourage you to enjoy these pieces, remember that the performances and my own compositions are copyrighted and not for commercial use without permission.
Pearly Blue Pearly Blue is a traditional bluegrass band based out of our home in Anacortes, Washington. Jen and I try and present the music in as honest a manner as possible, true to the roots of the music of Bill Monroe, Flatt & Scruggs, the Stanley Brothers, and other pioneering bluegrass bands. In order to do this we have enlisted some of the finest bluegrass musicians in the state including Rich Jones, Pete Martin, Mike Schway, Bill Scott, Loren Wohlgemuth, and Tom Moran, as well as Jen and me. For a complete rundown on the band, please visit our Webpage: Pearly Blue Here are a few live cuts of the band: Pearly Blue Trio L-R: Tom Moran, Jen Dunton, Barry: Northwest Folklife Festival , 2005
Before Jen and I formed Pearly Blue we put a trio together with mandolinist Tom Moran. I have always liked the early country music sound of "Brothers" duets, the Carter Family, and some "oldtime" and folk music. Jen and I sit around the house and play these pieces as duets, which sometimes don't work quite as well, or change their flavor, in a full bluegrass band. I also wanted an outlet for playing the fiddle, something many people don't realize I do, and to play some of the fiddle tunes I have written. This grouping provided me that opportunity and, with the addition of Tom's fine mandolin playing, the three of us have done occasional performances. Here are some pieces the trio performed, including two of my fiddle tunes:
The Dunton Sisters In 1997 I met my wife, Jen Dunton, at the Darrington Bluegrass Festival. Jen is not only a wonderful person, she is a terrific singer and musician. I would be remiss not to mention the excellent CD that she, her sister Bev, and mother Gae, as the Dunton Sisters, released in the early 2000s, Singing in My Heart. It an exceptional CD, and Jen and Bev caught the attention of promoter Milton Harkey who brought them back east for several bluegrass festivals. There they were backed on stage by the likes of Tony and Larry Rice; Jim VanCleve; Marc Pruett; Clay Jones; and others top name pickers. Ultimately they were able to secure interviews with major label recording companies, including CBS Sony, and performed at the Station Inn in Nashville. Ralph Stanley said of them, "Those girls sure can sing!" The Fossils
 The Fossils were originally formed in 1993 with the intention of putting together a solidly traditional bluegrass band. The first version of the group consisted of Harley Worthington, banjo; John Welch, mandolin/vocal; Kevin Bennett, fiddle/vocals; Al Hutteball, bass; and yours truly, guitar/vocals. This was an excellent group with lots of potential, but unfortunately it fell apart within a few months when Kevin moved to California, John decided he did not want to perform publicly, and Al joined Ron Spears and Within Tradition. Later, Harley Worthington left the group as well.
By 1997 the group coalesced around a core group of four musicians: Doug Bright, fiddle/mandolin/vocals; Belle Chenault, bass/vocals; Bill Scott, banjo/lead guitar/vocals; and me. This group is pictured to the left. In 2000 we released "The Fossil Record" on the Voyager label (Voyager VRCD-0348). For this recording we included three of my original compositions:
From time to time The Fossils added another musician for a given performance. One of the best additions we made included the wonderful Portland, Oregon mandolinist, Greg Clarke, pictured here with us at the Darrington Bluegrass Festival in 2005. Greg is one of the best bluegrass mandolinists around, though his musical preferences have gravitated in recent years to oldtime music.
Here are three more cuts from live performances in 2005 with Greg:
Bluegrass Ramble
Ramblin' Round (Greg, vocal)
Georgia Bound
Fickle Hill
The first group I ever played with was based in Arcata, California. The name was taken from a local landmark, and the group started as a duet in the late 1960s by guitarist Dave Johns and mandolinist Mike "Spumoni" Manetas. They played and sang folk, country, and bluegrass-related pieces at venues around Humboldt County. In 1972 I moved to Arcata and shortly thereafter the group expanded to a full bluegrass band with the addition of Brooks Otis, banjo; Jude Power, fiddle; Gary Grounds, bass; and me, guitar. Later, Dave and Jude left the group and Ro Purser joined on dobro. This grouping (photo, left) remained in place until I left in 1980 and Ken Jorgenson replaced me. During that period we played a lot of shows and were a regular house band at the Jambalaya Club in Arcata. As well we opened shows for Bill Monroe, Doc Watson, Jim & Jesse, and played at the 1979 Grass Valley Bluegrass Festival. The group disbanded in 1982.
We recently (2012) released a CD of live recordings! Here is a review and a few cuts from it:
"I've got to tell you that Fickle Hill has been on in my cd player for the last 4 days & I have been playing it repeatedly. I don't see it moving from there any time soon. There is so much to love about this project. It has "the grit", & it has "the soul". It also has the enthusiasm of all the band members giving "it their all". When you include the fine singing, the superb instrumental work, & the top notch song selection you have a "great traditional bluegrass project". I dare anyone to play this project just one time! It can't be done. It keeps you wanting more! Fickle Hill could be the best kept secret of 2011!"
The Friends of Sally Johnson
In the mid-1980s I moved to Langley, Washington, near Seattle and started jamming with close friends Phil & Vivian Williams, and Harley and Shera Bray. These folks had major credentials in the bluegrass, fiddle, and folk communities. Phil & Vivian are owners of Voyager Records and founders of the Northwest Folklife Festival. Banjoist Harley Bray was a member of the well-known Red Cravens and the Bray Brothers who have two Rounder Records releases and a Liberty recording from the 1960s as the Bluegrass Gentlemen. Shera was an excellent guitarist and vocalist who met Harley when they lived in Illinois. With this kind of musical firepower around me I decided to put together another group and so the Friends of Sally Johnson was formed. Mandolinist John Welch was also part of this group in 1985 before leaving the group. When he left I switched over to mandolin. We played together until 1990.
Here are a few live recordings:
Chokin' the Strings
Think of What You've Done
Video: Harley's Breakdown
Grand Ole Ospreys L-R: Stan Miller, John Clark, Fred Weisz, Laurel Bliss, Barry, Gene Wilson
 I left the Friends of Sally Johnson mostly to get back to playing the guitar. I had always admired the singing of my friend Laurel Bliss. She has had a wonderful musical career including well-reviewed recordings with Cliff Perry and Carol Elizabeth Jones. Since I was spending a lot of time in Bellingham, Washington, I began playing a lot with her and her husband, bassist John Clark; banjoist Gene Wilson (Note: Gene passed away, July 28, 2008); mandolinist Stan Miller; and fiddler Fred Weisz; all residents of that area. Fred Weisz has extensive musical credentials dating back to the 1960s with such groups and performers as the Greenbrier Boys; the Even Dozen Jug Band; Red Allen & Frank Wakefield; David Grisman; Goose Creek Symphony; and Hazel and Alice. He even performed on the Ed Sullivan Show. Stan Miller is also a crafter of custom mandolins, two of which I own (and one of which is For Sale).
Soon the Grand Ole Ospreys were formed and we played some occasional jobs over a period of a few years. Here are a couple of selections from a little personal CD I put together called Birds of Play:
Bring Back My Blue-Eyed Boy
Banks of the Ohio
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