Manitoba troubadour is looking forward to returning to Lethbridge to play the Geomatic Attic, Nov. 28.

 There was no dust on Barber during Covid 19 as in addition to having a baby boy four months ago and mourning the passing of his father and often co-writer,  he recorded and released  a new CD “Stray Dogs” and already has another one loaded and ready to go.

“I recorded ‘Stray Dogs’ over five days in my cabin north of Winnipeg with my touring band,” said Barber, looking at the first big snowfall of this winter.

He hired Edmonton producer Scott Franchuk to come to the cabin to produce the mostly acoustic project.

“I had 20 songs and whittled them down to the nine on the Cd,” he said, adding he made the most of not being able to tour.

“ I’ve got a five year old and just had a son four months ago, so this gave me the opportunity to stay home and go through  all of my notebooks and song ideas,” he said, adding he didn’t get to road test the songs like he usually does.

“Not really. I don’t usually write about myself. I write about other people’s stories. I was able to play the songs off  my other five records first,” he said, adding these sings are more introspective.

  “A lot of these songs are really poetic and opaque. A lot of the album is about the idea of mortality,” he said adding he also explored a few more styles of acoustic music on the CD.

“There’s some bluegrass on the CD,” he said, adding he has been listening to a lot of songwriters like Texas troubadour Hayes Carll, so some of that  influence made its way into the new music.

“ He’s been an influence for a long time,” he saids

 Most of the songs are new, though he has tried to record “Friends like Us” before.

“It never felt right, but I finally figured out how to get it right,” he said, adding  this CD has features the last co-writes with his dad Boyd Barber before he passed.

“He’s  co-written at least one song on all of my albums. I wrote five of them with  dad on this one,” he said noting note of the songs are about his dad.

“ It means a lot to me to have songs  I wrote with him. I learned a lot from him, He was very passionate about music,” he said.

 His Lethbridge  show will feature long time band mates lead guitarist Austin Parachoniak, drummer Ivan Burns and bassist/steel guitarist Ryan Funk.

 He  put some more time into the next album, which has also completed and will likely will be released in a year.

“It took 10 days. It will be a lot different. It has a much larger production. It’s more like what the band is like live. But I want to   support this album first,” Barber said.

 He was considering quitting the business, but being forced off the road gave him new appreciation for it.

“The time away completely renewed my commitment to the craft and commitment to touring,” he said. 

 Del Barber plays the Geomatic Attic’s main venue Sunday, Nov. 28.

 Tickets are $32. The show begins at 8 p.m.

— by Richard Amery, L.A. Beat Editor