1958:

Barry's FIRST GUITAR was a
STELLA ACOUSTIC
given to him by his parents on the
occasion of his 12th birthday.

He may not have known what a pick was
but he was positively sure that they had
"picked" the right present
for his birthday. 		  

 
  1959:

He started growing his
hair out like Elvis to impress the girls.
His little sister was impressed enough
to take this picture.

Working in Garage Bands convinced him
that he needed an ELECTRIC GUITAR...

...no one could hear that poor old STELLA
drowning under the drums.

 

   

 
  1960:
So he got a job at the car-wash and bought himself a GIBSON Melody Maker. No words can describe how it looked after he took it to an auto-body shop and had it painted CANDY APPLE METALFLAKE RED...
(Sorry we couldn't find a picture of that one.)		   

 
  1964:
Donning a BEATLE haircut, (that's Barry on the left) he joined the STARFIRES BAND and did some recording.
Their booking agent got them included on lots of shows touring through the mid-west.

They actually got to be the backup band for
CHUCK BERRY and GLEN CAMPBELL.

 

   

 
  1965:
Being in a band called THE STARFIRES,
he bought a sweet Cherry Red
GUILD STARFIRE guitar.

While rehearsing with Glen Campbell in Omaha,
Mr. Campbell asked if he could "see" Barry's STARFIRE and blazed a flaming solo up and down the neck that melted Barry's face off. "Nice axe" he said and handed it back to a stunned and well humbled side-man.

  

 
  1970's:
With a duffle bag in one hand and guitar in the other,
he headed for California in search of superstardom,
fame and fortune. (That's Barry the cave-man looking fellow in the back). 

DON PRESTON (Far Left), keyboardist for FRANK ZAPPA put together his own group while Frank was away making a movie with Ringo Starr and Pete Townsend.
This was Barry's first band as a Bass Player. 

   

 
  1970's cont:
Don's band had three of the original MOOG SYNTHESIZERS actually built by Robert Moog. As you might imagine by looking at this photograph, doing live performances was quite difficult... 
wires and patch cables going everywhere.

Nothing could give a deeper appreciation for the compact, hi-tech synthesizers we enjoy today.

   

 
  1970's cont:
During the 70's, two of his favorite artists (idols) died from their "Superstar" lifestyles of alcohol and drugs:
Jimi Hendrix and Jim Morrison. He was actually a roadie for the DOORS when Mr. Morrison left for France and never came back.

At that time there were "Jesus Freaks" in Hollywood  who claimed that Jesus helped them kick drugs;  So pondering his own failed attempts to kick his addictions,
he decided he would talk to them and see
if there was any truth in it.

Well... guess what? Barry got saved in the process and God opened a whole new chapter in his life.

   

 
  1980's :

He started writing songs for Jesus and
put together his first Christian band called LIGHT.
(That's Barry at the top right).
We found a couple of old cassette recordings of live performances of this group. Not particularly
good quality, but original material nonetheless.

( CLICK HERE to listen to archives )

(Barry did the drawing for this poster)

  

 
  1980's cont :

Keith Green had a huge impact on Barry's life
so he decided to grow a beard like Keith.
It didn't help his musical career in any way,
but it did land him the role of JESUS
in the Easter Play at his Church.

 

( CLICK HERE to listen to archives )

 

  

 

  1980's cont :

He bough a TASCAM four track cassette recorder and some other home-studio equipment and started making demos of the new songs he was writing. He learned how to "bounce tracks"  and added an ALESIS drum machine that had real drum samples to make the demos
sound like a real band.

( CLICK HERE to listen to archives )

 

 

  

 

  1980's cont :

With a mind to teaching their children bible verses,
Pastor Tom Whitehouse and Barry collaborated on a collection of King James bible verses set to music called "KING JAMS".

This method has proven to be a very effective in memorizing bible verses.

 

( CLICK HERE to listen to archives )

 

    

 
  1980's cont :

Barry designed and recorded a children's album with a coloring book containing all the words to the songs.
He speeded up the voices like the Chipmunks
and built some CHURCHMOUSE costumes to to act out the songs on tape for live performances.

 

Again, Barry did all the artwork.

( CLICK HERE to listen to archives )

 

   

 

  1980's - 90's :

Barry played bass in a band called INNER COURT that was sponsored by TEEN CHALLENGE to go overseas to hold revivals in Singapore, the Philippeans and Hong Kong. Seeing the extreme poverty in third world countries, Barry start doing outreaches to Homeless Shelters and Rescue Missions here at home.

 

( CLICK HERE to listen to archives )

   

 
  2000 - 2006

Barry recorded CDs to play along with when he
didn't have a band with him and friends started calling him Barryaoke. Running with the idea, he recorded a collection of Christian Sing-Along songs, including some originals, in his home studio with his kids. That's Audrey, his youngest on the cover to the right.

( CLICK HERE to listen to archives )

 

   

 
  2004 - 2009

Today, he's been called into prison ministry as well as Praise & Worship at his Church. EPIPHANY is a prison ministry for juveniles and KAIROS is a prison ministry for adults. He says the most rewarding thing he's ever done is to take Jesus to those who have no hope.  "I see lives transformed every time I go".

( CLICK HERE to listen to archives )

 

   
  2009

Most recently, I've started a new band called "BASIN".
I had a dream in which the announcer introduced
my band as "BASIN". I immediately woke up and
jumped out of bed and began this project. It's all original material. Hope you like it. 

( CLICK HERE to listen to archives )

 		   
     
     
     
     
     
     
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