Powerhouse bluegrass act the Barrel Boys brought their annual Christmas show to Red Bird Live on Friday showcasing their rich vocal harmonies, down-to-earth stage presence, and holiday spirit. Carols from the Barrel features a mixture of classic carols and original compositions.
Established in 2012, The Barrel Boys are a five-piece acoustic string band with Nathan Smith on the fiddle, Rob McLaren on banjo, Ben Wright on guitar, Kyle Kirkpatrick on dobro and Tim O’Reilly on bass, each member brings a new sound to the table to deliver a wonderful blend of bluegrass, Americana, country and folk.
“It’s a really special way for us to get together to start the holiday season,” Ben told me.
Though the Christmas concert has always been an important tradition for the band, this year marks the first time all five of the Barrel Boys are performing together at Red Bird.
“This is always a fun time of year for us, because we’ve been doing some bluegrass covers of Christmas music pretty much ever since we started being a band, and every year it’s grown a little bit,” said Rob. “To have our very first show as the Barrel Boys at Redbird be sold out is very, very exciting for us.”
The cozy, intimate Red Bird, which seats around 80 people, many of them in comfy, plump chairs up front, was the perfect venue for the show and provided a cheery atmosphere to match the vibe emanating from the stage.
This year, the boys did covers of Christmas classics like “Blue Christmas,” “Winter Wonderland,” “Sleigh Ride,” and “Jingle Bells.”
They also sang some of their original songs like “Starry Crown,” a gospel number about, in their words, “beating up the devil.”
“Usually we play all our own music — it’s all original — so this is one where we don’t have to own the tunes,” said Tim. “We can have a little bit of fun with them and mix it up. You hit so many emotional notes over the holidays. You know, there’s joy, there’s sorrow, there’s laughter, there’s thoughtfulness, so it’s fun to get into all of that.”
The show is not exclusively Christmas songs either; the Barrel Boys also successfully put a bluegrass twist on “Auld Lang Syne” to celebrate the New Years, and “Song for a Winter’s Night” by Gordon Lightfoot to bring warmth to the cold winter season.
They dabbled in a bit of a cappella duing the show with their cover of “The Holly and the Ivy.”
And they made the crowd smile and laugh with their soulful renditions of “Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer” and “You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch,” as they donned their finest ugly Christmas sweaters.
Every song appears to have a special meaning to each member of the band, and they didn’t shy away from sharing their beloved Christmas memories with the audience.
“It’s special because it’s very much something that we did for ourselves and our friends, and it’s turned into something that we can bring to other people in other towns,” Kyle said.
“If We Make It Through December” by Merle Haggard and the Strangers, reminds Kyle of the potential struggles queer people face during the holidays, he said, like not feeling welcomed into the family home.
“The song is pretty specific about it being someone getting laid off and not being able to afford Christmas,” he said. “But the sentiment of the tune speaks to me as a queer person.”
The holiday season is a very special time of the year for the band.
Their first ever project was a Christmas E.P., which was recorded in Tim’s 600-square-foot apartment in a single weekend. They sold 300 copies of the album, and many of the members say they still listen to it to this day with their families during the holidays.
The Barrel Boys intend to continue their Christmas show for years to come and hope to foster some Christmas spirit one carol at a time.
