Quick Facts
Biography
Robert Joseph "Bobby" Bare Jr. (born June 28, 1966) is an American singer-songwriter and musician.
Early life
Bare was born in Nashville, Tennessee, the son of singer Jeannie Bare (née Sterling) and country musician Bobby Bare, Sr.. His parents met in 1963, when his father hired Bare's mother to join his act as a singer. Bare's mother, Jeannie, was a shopkeeper in Nashville.
Bare has a younger brother, Shannon, and a younger sister, Angela. His older sister Cari Jean (Jeannie's daughter by an earlier marriage) died suddenly at age 15 from complications after surgery.
Bare grew up in Hendersonville, Tennessee, a half an hour northeast of Nashville, where his family lived next door to Tammy Wynette and George Jones.
He has a degree in psychology from the University of Tennessee.
Bare has three children: daughter Isabella Bare, son Beckham Bare (from his first wife) and son Shelby Booker Bare (from his girlfriend).
Career
In 1974, when Bobby was only eight, he and his father were both nominated for a Grammy for the song "Daddy What If", which was written by Shel Silverstein. Bare's daughter Isabella did a version of the song, which was featured on Twistable Turnable Man, a tribute album to Shel Silverstein which was co-produced by Bare and his father. He and his siblings also appeared on the TV show Hee Haw when he was a kid, to provide the witch scream on Bobby Bare, Sr.'s song "Marie Laveaux".
He began playing guitar and songwriting, and started as a professional musician when he was about 30. Bare has said that he is someone who avoided "working a real job at any cost." He worked as a member of the road crew and as a light technician. Once he started writing and performing, he was offered contracts with Immortal Records and Lost Highway.
Bare Jr.
In the 1990s, he led the roots rock outfit Bare, Jr., which was signed to Immortal Records, at that time the home of Korn and Incubus. They released two major label records, 1998's Boo-Tay and 2000's Brainwasher.
Young Criminals Starvation League
He has performed with his band, the Young Criminals Starvation League, an ever-changing group of musicians, including members of Lambchop, ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead, and My Morning Jacket. They have released three studio albums, an EP, and a live album.
Solo work
Ballard Seafood Fest 2013
His CD, Storm — A Tree — My Mother’s Head, was self-released through Bare's licensing company, 30 Tigers/Naked Albino Recordings, in 2010. The title of the record was inspired by a January 2008 storm in Nashville that injured his mother. "Mom was sitting on the couch, the last day of January in 2008, and there was a big, windy storm outside. And a big branch broke off halfway up the tree. It fell on the house, and literally split the house in two and landed exactly on top of her." Another song on the record, "The Sky Is The Ground," is about a bicycle accident his son had when he was two.
Bare regularly performs in house concerts, often accompanied by the vocals of singer Carey Kotsionis.
Shame on Me, a 2-song 7-inch vinyl record will be released by Big Legal Mess/Fat Possum Records in early 2014.
Spring 2014 will see the release of new record on Bloodshot Records called Undefeated, and will feature a full band. The first single off the record, "The Big Time," was released as a preview before the official April 15 record launch. Bare recorded the album with Mark Nevers (Lambchop) and Grammy-winning engineer Vance Powell (Jack White, Alicia Keys, the Dixie Chicks, Buddy Guy).
On the theme of the album: Bare "wrote the album about the end of his relationship with the mother of his youngest child, who is 3. The 10 rootsy Americana-style rock songs are at once poignant and shot through with mordant wit, which Bare said is a coping mechanism." Bare will be opening for Guided By Voices in June 2014.
In February 2016, Bare joined a new touring lineup of Robert Pollard's band, Guided by Voices, as guitarist along with Nick Mitchell also on guitar, bassist Mark Shue and drummer Kevin March.
Musical style and influences
Wall of Sound Festival, Ft. Worth, TX
September 22, 2007
Many of Bare's songs incorporate a lot of humor and references to popular culture. His writing has been characterized as "inventive and melodic." Shel Silverstein was a huge influence in his approach to songwriting. Bare describes it as writing poems and turning them into songs, which was very similar to what Silverstein did.
Discography
Studio albums
| Year | Album |
|---|---|
| 1998 | Boo-tay (As Bare Jr.) |
| 2000 | Brainwasher (As Bare Jr.) |
| 2002 | Young Criminals' Starvation League |
| 2004 | From the End of Your Leash |
| 2006 | Live: Nick Nacks & Paddy Whacks |
| The Longest Meow | |
| 2010 | A Storm, A Tree, My Mother's Head |
| 2014 | Undefeated |
EPs and singles
| Year | Album |
|---|---|
| 1974 | Daddy, What If With his father Bobby Bare, Sr. |
| 2003 | OK - I'm Sorry... (EP) |
| 2009 | American Bread (EP) |
| 2010 | A Storm, A Tree, My Mother's Head (EP) 5 acoustic demos of the album |
| 2011 | UNRELEASED and FREE (EP) |
| 2014 | Shame on Me (7" vinyl/digital download) (1,000 limited run) |
Charted singles
| Year | Single | Peak chart positions | Album | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Country | US | CAN Country | CAN | CAN AC | |||
| 1973 | "Daddy What If" (with Bobby Bare) | 2 | 41 | 5 | 53 | 19 | Lullabys, Legends and Lies (Bobby Bare album) |
| 1974 | "Where'd I Come From" (with Jeannie Bare) | 41 | — | — | — | — | Single only |
Other work
- 2000: Down to the Promised Land (compilation) (Bloodshot Records) – "Guitar Playing Woman" by Bare Jr.
- 2004: Sings Greatest Palace Music by Bonnie 'Prince' Billy (Drag City) – vocals on "Riding"
- 2005: Tanglewood Numbers by Silver Jews (Drag City) – vocals on "I'm Getting Back into Getting Back into You"
- 2005: The Moon Was Blue by Bobby Bare (Dualtone) – produced by Bare Jr.
- 2005: For a Decade of Sin: 11 Years of Bloodshot Records (compilation) (Bloodshot Records) – "Ocean Size" by Bobby Bare Jr.
- 2006: Bloodied But Unbowed: The Soundtrack (Bloodshot Records) – "Flat Chested Girl From Maynardville" by Bobby Bare Jr. (live)
- 2006: Bloodied But Unbowed: Bloodshot Records' Life In The Trenches (DVD) (Bloodshot Records) – videos for "Let's Rock and Roll" and "Flat Chested Girl From Maynardville".
- 2010: Twistable, Turnable Man: A Musical Tribute to the Songs of Shel Silverstein (Sugar Hill) – co-produced by Bare Jr. and father, Bare Sr.
Documentary
A documentary that follows Bare's struggles as a touring musician is called Don't Follow Me (I'm Lost): A Film About Bobby Bare, Jr. William Miller, the documentary's director, and Lee Baker, the documentary's producer, joined Bare on the road for four months while touring in support of his 2010 release, A Storm – A Tree – My Mother’s Head.
Musicians appearing in the film include My Morning Jacket, Justin Townes Earle, Hayes Carll, David Vandervelde, Blue Giant, Duane Denison and Bobby Bare Sr. The documentary was photographed on several formats, including Super 16mm, 16mm, Super 8, and HD and had its East Coast premiere at the CBGB Film Festival in October 2013.