The progressive bluegrass and Americana quartet Barbaro, release their new EP, Under the Covers, to the world today, with all proceeds from the EP to benefit the charitable organization, Our Saviour’s Community Services of Minneapolis.
The concept behind Under the Covers is one of camaraderie and respect amongst fellow artists and musicians from the Midwest and across the country. Barbaro felt compelled by the challenging events of 2020 to reach out to their musical friends and produce a dedicated collection of personally meaningful cover songs for an essential cause.
Under the Covers features guest artists, Tommy Maher of Fireside Collective, Ernest Brusabardis IV of Chicken Wire Empire, Adam Roszkiewicz of Front Country, Kaytee Callahan of Gully Boys, Siri Undlin of Humbird, and the late Max Graham of Kind Country.
The Current 89.3FM, debuted the new single, "Dark Turn of Mind", with host, Mike Pengra featuring it on the Radio Heartland programming.
Released on October 22 – The first single track, "Dark Turn of Mind", is a beautiful, collaboration with Barbaro, Siri Undlin of Humbird on vocals, and Adam Roszkiewicz of Front Country on mandolin. The Gillian Welch song provides a compositional space conducive to Barbaro’s sound. Barbaro knew that Siri’s powerful vocals would produce a moving and original take on this song.
Recently, the Minneapolis Star Tribune featured Barbaro as a “‘Minnesota band freshening up the bluegrass scene’, and the new EP as a charity project to help Minneapolis recover from the chaos of 2020. All proceeds from it go to Our Saviour's Community Services of Minneapolis. Said Shelstad, ‘It was important for us for it to be a charity doing very tangible, hands-on work in the community.’”
This is a special project for Barbaro, as Our Saviour’s Community Services in Minneapolis is a local organization close their hearts. With so many social challenges and inequities coming to a head in the summer of 2020, Barbaro found it important to give back to their own community.
“With the desire to recognize and support the tangible and impactful work that Our Saviour’s Community Services does in our own backyards, we felt strongly about dedicating the new Under the Covers EP as an opportunity to support this organization. We learned what it means to be good neighbors this year”, say Barbaro.
Our Saviour’s Community Services is a secular nonprofit in South Minneapolis that operates two programs: The English Learning Center and Our Saviour’s Housing. Welcoming students from many educational backgrounds, the English Learning Center offers free, culturally sensitive English education and citizenship preparation to adult learners. Our Saviour’s Housing offers person-centered, low-barrier supportive housing services and emergency shelter; it is a place where people can expect to find hope, community, and dignified services.
Adventures in Americana write, "The idiosyncratic song choices give "Under the Covers" the feeling of a great night of karaoke – if instead of a tinny synthesized backing track you had some of the best bluegrass musicians in the Midwest playing live and a bar packed with talented professional singers coming up to perform every song. It brings to mind the recent covers-for-a-cause album by Jason Isbell, Blue. While that album brought together mainly Nashville talents in celebration of songs from Georgia, "Under the Covers" is a gathering of mostly Minnesota musicians for a local nonprofit that pulls double duty as a provider of both emergency housing services and English language instruction.”
No Depression highlighted Barbaro’s new EP, Under the Covers, on their Now Hear This list of new releases for November 12, 2021.
Barbaro was selected as an Official Showcase Artist for Folk Alliance International 2020, AmericanaFest 2021, and IBMA World of Bluegrass in 2020 and 2021. With Barbaro being highlighted as one the Top 10 Artists to see at IBMA World of Bluegrass this year.
Barbaro’s musical vision explores their collective life experiences through intricate instrumentation, creatively bending traditional music into a style that is all their own. The Minneapolis-Winona based rising stars have created their eclectic sound through original songwriting craft, with inspiration derived from bluegrass, jazz and chamber music. Their acclaimed album, "Dressed in Roses", “Stands as a true testament to their musical identity and the sound that has launched one of the Midwest’s most in-demand acoustic acts.”
Under the Covers can be streamed or purchased on Amazon Music, Apple Music, Google Play, iTunes, Pandora, and Spotify.
Go to – www.barbaro.com/underthecovers
Under the Covers Track Listing:
Believe
Dark Turn of Mind
If It Makes You Happy
Jesus, etc.
