Evan Barber has been making his mark in the Americana/roots music scene in the southern USA for gtting on for a decade. In that time the Albany, Georgia native as well as writing, recording, and touring across his native territory has also shared stages with the likes of Chris Stapleton, Blackberry Smoke, Jason Isbell, and the Drive-by Truckers. His latest album ‘Until The Thunder‘ is out on April 22nd, and it is from there that todays song premiere comes.
‘Jesus and the Kid‘ revolves around an exchange of philosophies and points of view between the titular characters – the song came to Evan Barber through an overheard exchange. As he explains it: “Years ago, I overheard a heated discussion about religion in a Waffle House. I heard a woman say, ‘What do you think Jesus would say to that child?’ … which inspired a thought about Jesus and a kid sitting down together at that very Waffle House table, discussing life and the world in general.”
The album marks a departure for Evan Barber as it is his first proper solo album, previous music has been released under the band name Dead Gambler. It also sees a change of approach to the songs themselves – prior to now Barber would hone the songs on the road for months prior to recording then, but this was something that wasn’t possible after March 2020. As he told us “Those songs were always written with the band in mind and were road tested therefore evolved into what they were so 99% of the time that’s exactly what came through in the studio,whereas the songs for the new record are from a way more personal frame of mind…these songs represent an almost entirely new style of songwriting for me, which allows the end result to be completely honest and meaningful in ways I feel like I’ve fallen short of expressing in the past. I felt that I finally had the freedom to write and express exactly what was on my mind.”
