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1.) We’re excited to be speaking today with acclaimed musical trio Barrel Flash; greetings and salutations, gang! Before we drop down the proverbial Q&A rabbit hole, could you each say ‘hi’ and introduce yourselves to our ever-lovin’ readers?
RJ: Howdy, I’m Ross Johnson! I play guitars, harmonica and sing in our dynamic trio Barrel Flash. I’m old enough to have been wandering the music landscape for three or four decades, and come out of American folk, blues, bluegrass and Britfolk/rock roots.
JB: Hello, ever-lovin’ readers! I’m Julia Brown, the young one of the bunch. I primarily sing and write, though have been known to bang on a piano occasionally. My day job is in new play development, and my musical styles have ranged from opera to blues to rock to traditional Irish and more.
PT: Hi and excited to be here! I’m Priscilla Thomas. I play bass guitar on most things but also play acoustic 6-string when called upon to do so! And sing. I like almost all kinds of music, grew up on Chicago pop radio, R&B and Motown and love jazz as well. All of that shows up in my songwriting and playing here and there.
2.) Major congratulations on the release of the group’s debut album, A Guide to Dancing Alone! Julia, does it feel at all surreal to have reached this important milestone in releasing Barrel Flash’s premiere album?
JB: Thank you! You know, it does kind of feel surreal just because the arranging, recording, mixing, and mastering processes were so long—necessarily so because of Covid and safety. So it’s wild that it’s actually out in the world now. We’re really glad to be able to share our work with people outside our geographical area.
At the same time, we’re looking forward to writing new material together and getting back to playing live. Recording is great, but there’s nothing like an audience and some new tunes to try out!
3.) Ross, what was the genesis of A Guide to Dancing Alone? How did this brilliant album come into being?
RJ: We were JUST getting on our feet playing regularly as a trio when COVID came along. That challenge is not unique: It hit the whole world in a multitude of ways. For Priscilla, Julia and I, we each had written songs that were in various stages of concept, and we each valued our evolving sound to be the right path for taking them forward. Since we had no venues to play for whatever time that would be, we determined our best path was to record. We passed ‘draft’ tracks back and forth to arrange and refine, and there was an obvious thematic and sonic alchemy that rose out of the process.
Working together – but individually in our homes – did two huge things for us. First, it put focus on the emotional ‘setting’ of each song. And second, the process made me at least a better listener! We had TIME to get the vibe and nuance in each song’s intent and arrangement before going into a studio and trying to furiously knock out 13 songs – which might have been the mode in the “before COVID” world. I think we all three have huge respect and love for each other’s concept for each song. Slowing down brought patience and thoughtfulness to everything. I think it’s palpable in the album and you hear it start to finish.
4.) Priscilla, how is A Guide to Dancing Alone different than any other album on the 2022 music landscape?
PT: Good question! For one thing, since the three of us have such different histories and musical backgrounds, there are a lot of different styles in the mix. The songs are all quite different from one another, which takes the listener on a journey of sorts and oddly enough, still seem to fit a cohesive whole. So I think this album might appeal to a wide range of audiences. Also- Ross and I are older and Julia also grew up listening to the music of the 60’s and 70’s, so we probably bring more of that generational sound into our music than many current emerging artists.
5.) Julia, how did Barrel Flash come together as the tight and inventive band that we hear on A Guide to Dancing Alone? Is there a VH1-Behind the Music story you can share on the founding of the band?
JB: The Twin Cities music scene is really what brought us together. Priscilla plays with another great trio called Sweet Rhubarb, and I used to play with a group called Sister Theda. Ross played with a group called Blue Yodel No. 9 and also did some booking at local venues, so we met him when he booked our other bands occasionally. After Sister Theda broke up for grad school reasons, Ross and I started playing together and figuring out a duo sound. Then we shared a bill with Sweet Rhubarb and managed to entice Priscilla over to the dark side.
Other featured artists on the album are friends of ours from around town as well—producer/drummer Reid Kruger and I met when I was a student at Macalester College, and string-wizard Mandy Fassett played with Ross in Blue Yodel on and off over the years. We also have some guest vocalists on a few songs who are a combination of college friends, previous musical collaborators, and coworkers who happen to sing.
6.) Ross, who was the producer on A Guide to Dancing Alone and what did collaboration between band and producer look like in the studio?
RJ: Reid Kruger, owner of Waterbury Music+Sound in Minneapolis, MN recorded, produced, mixed, mastered, refined, conjured, oh my what didn’t he do?… he is the BEST collaborator any songwriter group could ever ask for. Period. For most of the album, we had to go in one at a time to record, with Reid invisible a floor away in his control room. It seemed an insane way to record and perform. BUT IT WAS NOT! His experience and guidance made us well-prepared, fully confident and put our best on mic at each step – and the songs feel as live and organic as can be. Magic.
Oh and he brilliantly mind-melded into our trio as percussionist on 12 of 13 tracks. Originally we had an idea of drums on 2 or 3 songs for which he said “yeeeeeeeah I think I could do something for those…” Once we heard those demos, it was obvious we wanted – no needed – his drumming on more. It morphed many songs into places we had not even dreamed of. I could give you 15 pages on why Reid is awesome. Our vision for this album exists because of him.
7.) Priscilla, what do you hope listeners walk away with after giving A Guide to Dancing Alone a few dozen spins on their turntables?
PT: I hope they will enjoy the journey and find it moving and inspiring. I hope they can find something to relate to, especially as the songs touch on isolation and finding connection. And I hope they dance!
8.) Julia, the music which Barrel Flash plies their musical alchemy in is difficult to pin down in that you all run the gamut of genres and styles such as Folk, Jazz, Country, Blues and British/Irish/Scottish Folk. Was this deliberate, the blurring of the lines regarding genres and styles in A Guide to Dancing Alone?
JB: We are definitely genre-agnostics—we respect that some people like labels, but they don’t do much for us. Part of it is our wide generational spread, with the music we all came up with varying pretty widely. But we’re also always looking for a challenge, so we love to grab an unexpected cover and see what we can do with it (we cover old Irish trad stuff like “Whiskey in the Jar,” but also newer cuts like Lorde’s “The Louvre” and “Liability”). That instinct definitely feeds into the writing on this album.
The three songs by Priscilla really run the gamut— “Something About You” is a jazzy bossa nova style, “Shack Out Back” is an old-school country swing, and “A Mighty Ocean” is a full on ‘70s flavor protest song. My own stuff tends to be a little more on the alternative/indie singer-songwriter side of things with very narrative inspirations. Each song I write is some kind of story or snapshot of a character. And you can definitely hear the blues and pub rock influence in Ross’s songs as well.
9.) Ross, what does the touring dance card look like in the weeks and months to come for Barrel Flash?
RJ: GOOD QUESTION. Our core trio is Twin Cities based, and we each are at entirely different stages of our life and work path. Our goal is to share what we do with listening audiences in an intimate way whenever we can. Our resolution for this coming year is to push our album on air and streaming, and book shows that are both fun, and create a connection between us and the audience. I personally have realized that touching hearts and heads through ears is what is most important to me. In some past life we were a really stellar pub band in Ireland or Scotland or just round the corner from you in YOUR past life. We’ll be finding those places for our 2023 gigs!
10.) A question for all of you: Who inspires you musically?
RJ: My idols are many: Mark Knopfler, Ronnie Lane/Faces, John Mayall, Los Lobos, Neil Young, the Band are several. Lots of music catches me and inspires me. It’s mostly all magic to me.
JB: This is such a hard one! My playlists are truly all over the place: Kesha to the Clash to Sister Rosetta back to back. Singers I’ve always admired would be Maddy Prior, Bonnie Raitt, Rhiannon Giddens, Sara Bareilles, Janelle Monáe. And songwriters who make me crazy because I wish I wrote their stuff include Regina Spektor, Fleet Foxes, Shovels & Rope, Decemberists, Hozier. And of course I grew up on Neutral Milk Hotel, They Might Be Giants, Liz Phair, The Killers, Weezer and the like, so I love a little weirdo alt-pop whenever I can get it.
PT: Many. From the old days, the Beatles, the Jackson 5, Sly and the Family Stone, CSNY, Joni Mitchell; jazz greats/Coltrane, Miles Davis, Chick Corea, Jaco Pastorius and the whole fusion scene of the 70’s. Jobim. Talking Heads! And I’m a huge Elliott Smith fan, maybe his oldest…I’m sure I’ve left someone important out.
11.) Priscilla, is it fair to ask you if you have a favorite tune off of A Guide to Dancing Alone, or is this question akin to Sophie’s Choice in the impossibility of choosing one over another?
PT: That is indeed a hard one because for me, the songs each touch a different nerve. I really do like them all. I love the wistfulness of Riding Away (written by Julia and Ross), and the cello underneath. I love how Josephine (by Julia) runs the gamut from plaintive to explosive. I love the bounce of City Kids (by Ross). Starting Over (Julia) is so unique and beautiful, and I used to sing it to my grandson as a lullaby. And regarding my own songs- It is a particular thrill to have songs I wrote come to fruition in this collaborative way, and in that respect I love how A Mighty Ocean went from a few notes and lyrics to something rather epic. Something About You feels very exposed to sing and it took some courage to do it, so that was a personal step forward for me.
12.) Julia, Barrel Flash is based out of the Minneapolis/St. Paul area of the Midwest. How do those roots inform the sound of the band?
JB: The Twin Cities music scene is really vibrant and diverse; I mean, we’ve got hometown heroes ranging from Lizzo to Ondara to Dessa to Semisonic. I grew up not far away in Eau Claire, WI—famously home of Bon Iver along with a lot of other killer groups. So I think our range of styles really reflects that.
I think there’s also a certain amount of emotional repression in our writing as well that feels very Midwestern. We’re not screaming “I’m Sad! I’m Lonely!,” but we are telling you a story about a specific situation and letting you figure out how that feels for yourself. It’s not that we don’t have the big feelings, but we dole them out a little bit at a time over the course of the album or the show.
13.) Final – SILLY! – Question (for all of you!): Favorite movie about the music scene – This Is Spinal Tap or Almost Famous?
RJ: The Last Waltz. It WAS the music scene at the time of its release and echos still!
JB: The Commitments, all day every day!
PT: I love This is Spinal Tap! But… The Wrecking Crew and the CBGB documentary are both great.
