willy barber

In and effort to keep you from having to read an encyclopedic rendition of my life, i've put my BIO up in the blog, for those interested. Thx for visiting! ". I'm a bass player, producer, singer/songwriter here in the NW. I gig all over the world for a living. I've played on your very own television set many times, in addition to being on television sets and radios in places like Afghanistan, Russia, India, England, Europe,Korea, China, Japan, and South America. At home I've been on Austin City Limits, Saturday Night Live, the Tonight Show, and the Mountain Stage. I'm usually in the background, so unless you're the type of person to know the names of the extras in the wizard of oz, you may not even care. As a kid I was a total movie freak! As a result film scores had as much influence on me as Miles, Led Zeppelin, Hendrix, Prince, or Weather Report. Ennio Morricone is still one of my favorite musicians of all time everything I write is from a visual point of view. Every song I want to be a short film, be it instrumental or with lyrics, so they usually tell some kind of story. Twilight Zone endings, love songs with hand grenades, sex, murder, sci fi, the state of our world, and you, are my favorite topics. I can also funk so hard it'll make you wanna' slap your mama. Playing upright bass and straight ahead at 360bpm is pretty neat too I cater the style of music to the song. Some jazz lyrics, just aren't gonna' go over my new Korn riff, and some turntable scratches may not be welcome in that string quartet I'm re-working, unless of course it makes my song sound better than yours.

Often more of a bass player, I get calls to stack vocals, play accordian, guitar, upright bass, cello, program computers, or i just get paid to hand out riotous laughter . I AM more fun than a barrel of *ucking monkey's, what can I say.? Its a living."

I AM A FIENDISHLY PROUD ENDORSER OF WARWICK BASSES. I am honored to be affiliated with the finest bass brand in the world! Thank you Warwick!!!



   Notable Gigs



Newport Jazz Festival Main Stage (w/ army band, red rodney, and ndugu chancellor), North Sea Jazz Festival (main stage), Montreaux Jazz Festival (main stage), Nice Jazz Festival, Mountain Stage (radio and T.V.), Austin City Limits, White House Christmas Concert, Regis and Cathie Lee, Playboy Jazz Festival, Playboy After Hours (the mansion baby.)



   music



Anything Beatles, Chris Whitley, Flyleaf, Tom Waits, Steve Earle, Prince, Zep, Police, AC/DC, Daniel Lanois, Beastie's, Johnny Cash, Shakira, Lou Reed, U2, Mother Lovebone, Sabbath, Bjork, Peter Gabriel, Charlie Parker, Paul Chambers, the band, Jaco, Ella, Frank, Dean, Joe Zawinul, Tom Petty, Rolling Stones, Monk, Billie, Radiohead, the Ramones, Bob Dylan, Miles, David Bowie, the Band, Jeff Lynne, James Brown , Nirvanna, P funk/Bootsy, & i just went crosseyed



   movies



HAPPINESS (OMG), Trainspotting, 'Round Midnight, Kill Bill(s), Waiting for Guffman, Pulp Fiction, Hellboy, Zombie Movie's, Star Wars movie's, Leningrad Cowboys go America, Royal Tannenbaums, The Darjeeling Limited, Rushmore, Lost in Translation, Wizard or Oz, The Beast, Slingblade, the Brady Movie's, The Longest Day, Go, Enchanted, The Incredibles, Saving Private Ryan, and any movie that has a "wockychickawahkichika" guitar in the background is A-ok in my book



   books



Shakespeare, Snobby literature, Your Diary.



   random facts



Pisces, Straight, Musician for a living, Share a birthday with Johnny Cash and Erykah Badu, . I've met and had dinner with three different presidents (i'll give you a hint one of 'em was a really cool hang, and the other two were inbred in some way, most likely). Met Miles Davis. lived in Texas, Kansas, Oregon, DC and Baltimore (peepshow capital of the world). Been all over the world and swam in most of the major oceans and seas on the planet. The water is warmer where you pee. and hookers don't make change



   heroes



Martin Luther King, Johnny Cash, Robert Rodriguez, Wayne Shorter, Charlton Heston, and Shasta Groene