Brad Barr

Philip Bradford "Brad" Barr^[1] (born July 27, 1975)^[2], better known by “Brad Barr,” is an American-Canadian^[3] guitarist and singer-songwriter, best known for his work with The Slip, The Barr Brothers and Surprise Me Mr. Davis.

Philip Bradford “Brad” Barr
Brad Barr performing with The Slip in 2005
Background information
Birth name	Philip Bradford Barr
Also known as	Brad Barr
Born	(1975-07-27) July 27, 1975 (age 50) Providence, Rhode Island, U.S.
Genres	Avant-garde, indie rock, indie folk, folk rock
Occupation(s)	Musician, singer, songwriter, guitarist
Instrument(s)	Guitar, piano, harmonica, harpsichord, banjo
Years active	1996–present
Labels	KA, Flying Frog, Rykodisc, 216, Bar/None, Tompkins Square, Secret City Records
Member of	The Slip, The Barr Brothers
Formerly of	Surprise Me Mr. Davis, Sonya Kitchell, Super Little
Website

Born to his mother Nancy Verde Barr, a contemporary author and culinary chef^[4], and his father Philip Duane Barr, a once practicing orthodontist^[5][4], during the summer of 1975 in Providence, RI. This would set Barr up for a core memory in his adolescent years, a time in which he'd often wander Rhode Island with his early friends, resulting in an incidental visit to the Newport's “Breakers Mansion.”^[6] This event lead to the inspiration for the titular track of The Barr Brothers' fourth studio album; “Queens of The Breakers.”^[7]

Discography

September 16, 2008, Barr released his debut solo album consisting entirely of instrumental compositions titled, The Fall Apartment: Instrumental Guitar or “The Fall Apartment” for short. It was released under the Tompkins Square Records label.^[8][9]

The Winter Mission (stylized as THE WINTER MISSION), Barr's second solo album, released on January 21, 2022 amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. The album, with art and design credited to Brigette Henry^[10], similarly consisted solely of instrumentals. Unlike The Fall Apartment, however, this album was brought to life with a creative push from Michael Wolk who commissioned Barr to create it; Wolk went on to become the executive producer for The Winter Mission album. This, in turn, provided Barr a new range with lesser limitations for finding his acoustic sound, and lead to a more developed and grounded sound overall. The album was released under the Secret City Records label^[9]

Brad Barr, only four days after The Winter Mission's release was announced, on January 25, 2022, had posted to The Barr Brothers's official Patreon page providing patrons with two bonus tracks from the album. These two tracks consisted of the titles “SAINT MATTHEW'S PASSION” and “PHANTOPOEIA.”^[11]

Collaborations

In the year of 2007, Barr collaborated with Jade McNelis on her album All the Fables ^[12][13] In 2008, Barr collaborated with Sonya Kitchell on her album This Storm.^[14][15] Later, in 2009, he performed on the Land of Talk album, Fun and Laughter.

In 2021, Barr collaborated with Morcheeba on "Say It's Over", a track on the band's tenth studio album Blackest Blue.^[16][17]