New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Lincoln Barr is a composer, singer, and guitarist currently based in South Carolina. His latest album, Forfeit the Prize - the third full-length release under his own name, following a decade-plus leading Seattle-based pop group Red Jacket Mine - explores destiny, gratitude, and wonder, embellishing his trademark deft songcraft with a sonic palette that blends string-laden Bacharachian grandeur, sophisticated soul, torchy chanson, and dubby, spectral psychedelia. Barr will hit the midwest in March 2023 for a series of dates in support of the album, accompanied by three of his collaborators, John Convertino, Johnny Sangster and
Daniel Walker.
After a pandemic interlude that saw the release of several boundary-stretching singles, Barr reconvened the core cast from his solo debut, Trembling
Frames for a joyous session in late summer 2021 - guitarist, co-producer, and confidante Johnny Sangster (Neko Case, Braly Sangster, The Tripwires); the "indispensable" and sympathetic drummer John Convertino, one-half of Tucson legends Calexico; nimble bassist and avant-jazz staple Keith Lowe (Bill Frisell, Wayne Horvitz,
Robin Holcomb); and one of Barr's most vital collaborators over the past decade, keyboard wizard (and nascent string arranger)
Daniel Walker - cutting Forfeit the Prize's ten tracks live to tape over a few days at Sangster's Crackle & Pop! Studio in Seattle.
For finishing touches, Barr and Sangster enlisted a virtual wrecking crew that included string arrangers Walker (Heart, Amy Ray) and Andrew Joslyn (Mark Lanegan, Seattle Symphony); saxophonist Levon Henry (The Milk Carton Kids, Meshell Ndegeocello, Joe Henry); Chicago-based vocalists
Kelly Hogan, Nora O'Connor-Kean, and Casey McDonough (Mavis Staples, Iron & Wine, NRBQ); and longtime ally Jefferson Curtis Brown (Downpilot, Half Rushmore). The album was released October 21, 2022 courtesy of Seattle's Two Roads Records.
In addition to 2017's "Trembling Frames", which chronicled his own childhood trauma and its aftermath, Barr also composed and cast many of the same musicians to record "Cruel Dream:
Music From and Inspired by The Past is Never Dead," the soundtrack to director Steve E. Turner's 2019 documentary feature. He plans to perform live in support of "Forfeit the Prize" throughout 2023.
March 2023 Tour:
Fri Mar 3 - Kiki's House of Righteous
Music - Madison, WI
Sat Mar 4 - Evanston SPACE - Evanston, IL - w/ The Flat Five Chicago
Sun Mar 5 - Anodyne Coffee Roasting Co. - Milwaukee, WI
Tue Mar 7 - Aster Cafe - Minneapolis, MN - w/ Dylan Hicks & the Small Screens
Thu Mar 9 - miniBar - Kansas City, MO - w/ Dan Jones and the Squids
Fri Mar 10 - Spectrum Record Lounge - Cape Girardeau, MO
