Description

“‘Speechless’, Barron’s first all instrumental album was recorded in his home studio with help from guitarist/bassist Chili Taylor.

Barron plays a variety of instruments on this album that reflects Celtic and old time music genres.  Barron performs on guitar, five string banjo, tenor banjo, mandolin and bass.

He opens with ‘Father’s Pride’, a Tony Ellis banjo melody. A fine claw-hammer banjoist, Barron really shines in this realm. Melodic banjo doesn’t get much attention these days but in Barron’s hands, along with an absolutely gorgeous sounding Deering banjo, this track and others in this style are examples of  just how expansive a banjo can be in a really creative player’s hands.

Barron sticks to more traditional lines in ‘The Congress Reel’, ‘Flight of the Chinquapin’ and ‘John Brown’s Dream’ on mandolin and tenor banjo in subsequent tracks. There’s also a fine claw-hammer banjo on ‘Foggy Dew/Sally in the Garden’.  The lone solo guitar track is the final one, ‘Speechless’.

Throughout we hear the Newfoundland versions of many familiar melodies.

Overall ‘Speechless’ is a good introduction into Barron’s instrumental side.”

– Art Edelstein from www.rikbarron.com