The heralded Minneapolis-based band Barbaro forges an exhilarating new musical path on About the Winter, their inaugural outing for StorySound Records. Featuring guitarist Kyle Shelstad, bassist Jason Wells, and violinist Rachel Calvert, the dynamic young group developed a strong following for their modernist bluegrass sound on their 2020 debut, Dressed in Roses. Their new album, however, represents a “coming of age” for Barbaro, according to Shelstad, as it more authentically reflects the band’s adventurous musical evolution over the past few years. All three band members point to the title tune, “Let’s Talk About the Winter” as the song that established the tone for the album. The song, Wells explains, “fully captured the soundscape that now defines us as a band.” The ten tracks on About the Winter provide a wonderful showcase for the unique dynamic created from Shelstad’s string band roots blending with Calvert’s and Wells’ backgrounds in classical music. The album also finds Barbaro expanding its sound by having Shelstad share vocal duties with Calvert for the first time, along with weaving electric instrumentation into the group’s acoustic-based music. The bandmates all agree on the key contributions of producer Brian Joseph (Bon Iver, Sufjan Stevens). “His production,” Calvert revealed, “elevated these tracks to an entirely different level.” Together they have fashioned a captivating pastoral Americana sound on About the Winter that is both traditional and progressive. The new album adds to what has been already exciting time for Barbaro, who were selected by the U.S. government to perform concerts and conduct music workshops in Qatar, Turkey, and Bulgaria as part of its 2023 American Music Abroad program.
