"A fine, young talent with a knack for writing poignant and meaningful stories." - The Ottawa X Press

“… a good-natured guitar-waving rebel.” — The Charleton

“I know our audiences will love [your music] as much
as I do.” — Shashona, founder, Awesome Radio


TWICE THE USUAL

From Fort Qu’Appelle, Saskatchewan singer-songwriter Thom Barker comes a new CD that runs the emotional gauntlet. From the angry No Forever to the blissful The Quiet In Us, Barker delivers the goods in his signature “Frantic Folk” style, which has found an audience that spans generations and continents.

“Reviewers have sometimes called my music bittersweet,” Barker said. “So be it. Isn’t life? I think we miss a lot by not embracing our angst.”

In the brave new world of the Internet, Twice the Usual — the artist’s sophomore offering — is quickly gaining momentum with a growing presence on sites like CBC Radio 3, MySpace and ReverbNation, as well as, Web radio stations such as Awesome Radio. As of May, it will be electronically distributed by the Indie coalition Community Musician on more than 100 commercial music sites including iTunes, Amazon, Napster and Snocap.

Barker — whose first CD, The Forest for the Trees (1995), has been compared to Billy Bragg and Gordon Lightfoot — has packed a lot into his four decades of living. A geologist by education, Barker has at various times also been a labourer, door-to-door vacuum dealer, diamond appraiser, car salesman, high-tech project manager and, most recently, a reporter and popular columnist with The Interior News, the Smithers, B.C. newspaper named Best Overall in its class in 2007.

But always in the background was the music, which he has performed in clubs and at festivals from Ontario to British Columbia to Texas, where it has enjoyed moderate airplay on college and community radio. He now lives on Echo Lake, just outside Fort Qu’Appelle, Saskatchewan with his wife Lorraine.

The new release, produced by brother Ken Barker at Art Facts Studio in Austin, Texas, is his first to feature full band arrangements with Thom on acoustic guitar and vocals; Ken on basses, keyboards, drum programming and background vocals and; Christian Chénier on electric guitars.
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"A fine, young talent with a knack for writing poignant and meaningful stories." - The Ottawa X Press

“… a good-natured guitar-waving rebel.” — The Charleton

“I know our audiences will love [your music] as much
as I do.” — Shashona, founder, Awesome Radio


TWICE THE USUAL

From Fort Qu’Appelle, Saskatchewan singer-songwriter Thom Barker comes a new CD that runs the emotional gauntlet. From the angry No Forever to the blissful The Quiet In Us, Barker delivers the goods in his... (read more)