An Okanagan musician is tuning up his guitar as he gets set to celebrate his first solo album with a release show this weekend.
Penticton native and Juno award nominee Dave Barber will be performing his debut instrumental album, Molly’s Eyes, live on Saturday, July 8 from 8 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. at the Dream Café on 67 Front Street.
Barber has been featured on many albums, travelling the world and playing guitar for various artists such as Colin James, Chad Brownlee, Dallas Smith, and The Chieftains, just to name a few, but Molly’s Eyes is his first solo collection.
“This album is a culmination of styles from years of playing music for a living,” Barber said. “I’ve always wanted to record this album but was always so busy working for other artists that I never found the opportunity to make it happen.”
Barber is excited to finally have the chance to share his own album with his fans and community. The all-instrumental 10-track collection includes flairs of folk, roots, country and jazz melded together and provides a modern journey back to original and traditional music.
“The repertoire is a lot of originals and a handful of covers in styles ranging from my influences including folk, blues, county and jazz,” he said.
The performance on Saturday will be a trio, as Barber will be joined by Kirby Barber on bass and vocals and Matt Atkins on drums.
Aside from the Juno award nomination, which was for his work with the bluegrass band High Bar Gang featuring Barney Bentall and Shari Ulrich, Barber has received awards from the British Columbia Country Music and Canadian Gospel Music associations, while being nominated for Canadian Country Music and Western Canadian Music awards as well.
In collaboration with Barber, the Dream Café hosts singer-songwriter nights once a month, as well as numerous other live shows.
Tickets for Barber’s album release show are $25 and doors open at 6 p.m.
READ MORE: 30 days, 15 shows: Juno-nominated artist headlines busy June at Penticton venue
