Time: 55:52
Size: 127.9 MB
Styles: Electric blues
Year: 2018
Art: Front
[4:34] 1. How 'bout Now
[3:16] 2. Electric Feel
[3:56] 3. Thank You
[5:31] 4. Journey To Nowhere
[4:24] 5. Can't Put You Down
[4:46] 6. The Stumble
[3:08] 7. Butterflies, Rainbows And Moonbeams
[3:38] 8. Dust My Broom
[4:14] 9. Is It Blue
[4:12] 10. Wind Cries Mary
[3:54] 11. Dreams
[4:15] 12. Brionna
[5:55] 13. Joy Bells
He’s starting his eighth year as an offensive lineman in the National Football League, but while proud of his ability on the gridiron, Joe Barksdale is less inclined to cite Pro Football Hall of Famers like Art Shell or Anthony Muñoz as inspirations as he would a star from a completely different Hall of Fame. “I saw Jimi Hendrix and his Monterey Pop performance pretty early in my development as a musician and ever since then I wanted to play live like that,” says Joe Barksdale, offensive tackle for the Los Angeles Chargers and aspiring musician. “My goal is to be the premiere guitar player of my generation before it’s all said and done.” He takes a step toward that lofty goal with the arrival of his first album, Butterflies, Rainbows & Moonbeams. Barksdale’s admiration for Hendrix is obvious not only in his respectful cover of the guitar god’s “The Wind Cries Mary” but his playing style throughout the album.
Butterflies, Rainbows & Moonbeams ranges from hues of blues and neo soul to contemporary jazz and alternative rock. It’s an especially confident album considering Barksdale only started learning his second job less than five years ago, a quest that began at the suggestion of his football coach. Seeing footage of Hendrix’s Monterey performance made guitar more than a flirtation. “I wanted to be everything that Jimi Hendrix was, as a musician and as a guitar player for sure. It’s funny, my current guitar teacher, Mark Shapiro, just swears that if Jimi Hendrix had been 6’5”, 300-plus pounds, he’d be me and vice versa.”
The scope of genres on Barksdale’s debut reflect his broad tastes, a path that began with “Gospel, rap, soul and R&B: those are the four major food groups for black, inner-city Detroit.” Attending plays and concerts with his mother during high school years opened his ears to classical, swing and jazz, while college introduced him to alternative rock and neo soul. Shortly after college, he immersed himself in the blues, a passion of his grandfather. “I don’t think my music is definable,” says Barksdale. “You know, it hits you in the soul and it feels good.” Aside from the Hendrix song, Barksdale also covers blues greats Elmore James and Freddy King and alternative band MGMT, but the bulk of his album are originals, six by Barksdale and three co-writes, one with wife Brionna. Barksdale eagerly shares credit with his collaborators, including long-time San Diego singer Rebecca Jade and Prince protégé Natalya Phillips. “I think some of that comes from me being an offensive lineman and never getting credit for anything,” says Barksdale. “You don’t want people to feel like linemen do at the end of the day; you want them to know they did a good job and that you appreciate them. That’s not just important to me as a musician but in life in general.”
Just as Barksdale is serious about music, his new career and has been taken seriously, earning ink in the Los Angeles Times, San Diego Tribune, outlets in his hometown Detroit and elsewhere. He scored an endorsement deal with Fender, and the instruments giant helped promote his album’s launch at the annual National Assn. of Music Merchants (NAMM) convention in Anaheim. “I have a lot of admiration for Fender and I’m so thankful for the people there because they were the first major corporation who believed in me as an artist,” says Barksdale. “It makes you feel good when you get to NAMM and see Fender has the biggest booth in the world. It motivates you to keep working. “
Butterflies, Rainbows & Moonbeams ranges from hues of blues and neo soul to contemporary jazz and alternative rock. It’s an especially confident album considering Barksdale only started learning his second job less than five years ago, a quest that began at the suggestion of his football coach. Seeing footage of Hendrix’s Monterey performance made guitar more than a flirtation. “I wanted to be everything that Jimi Hendrix was, as a musician and as a guitar player for sure. It’s funny, my current guitar teacher, Mark Shapiro, just swears that if Jimi Hendrix had been 6’5”, 300-plus pounds, he’d be me and vice versa.”
The scope of genres on Barksdale’s debut reflect his broad tastes, a path that began with “Gospel, rap, soul and R&B: those are the four major food groups for black, inner-city Detroit.” Attending plays and concerts with his mother during high school years opened his ears to classical, swing and jazz, while college introduced him to alternative rock and neo soul. Shortly after college, he immersed himself in the blues, a passion of his grandfather. “I don’t think my music is definable,” says Barksdale. “You know, it hits you in the soul and it feels good.” Aside from the Hendrix song, Barksdale also covers blues greats Elmore James and Freddy King and alternative band MGMT, but the bulk of his album are originals, six by Barksdale and three co-writes, one with wife Brionna. Barksdale eagerly shares credit with his collaborators, including long-time San Diego singer Rebecca Jade and Prince protégé Natalya Phillips. “I think some of that comes from me being an offensive lineman and never getting credit for anything,” says Barksdale. “You don’t want people to feel like linemen do at the end of the day; you want them to know they did a good job and that you appreciate them. That’s not just important to me as a musician but in life in general.”
Just as Barksdale is serious about music, his new career and has been taken seriously, earning ink in the Los Angeles Times, San Diego Tribune, outlets in his hometown Detroit and elsewhere. He scored an endorsement deal with Fender, and the instruments giant helped promote his album’s launch at the annual National Assn. of Music Merchants (NAMM) convention in Anaheim. “I have a lot of admiration for Fender and I’m so thankful for the people there because they were the first major corporation who believed in me as an artist,” says Barksdale. “It makes you feel good when you get to NAMM and see Fender has the biggest booth in the world. It motivates you to keep working. “
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