2007 Year End Survey | Michael Barrett

Due to his great work in Guppyboy, The Sixth Great Lake, The Essex Green and his solo work, Michael Barrett will always be connected to the Vermont music scene; even if he's down among the masses and chowder of Boston these days.

One of the sweet development with Barrett this year is his tub keewah recordings blog which houses some live recordings from The Essex Green, Gubbyboy and his solo work. I wish more artists would do that for their fans.

1) What was your favorite song of 2007?

Bruce Springsteen - "Factory" from Darkness on the Edge of Town

Bruce Springsteen | Factory | Buy


2) What was your favorite album of 2007?

M. Ward
Transistor Radio and Post-War

I put these records in a giant iTunes playlist along with "Transfiguration of Vincent" and played them over and over on shuffle. It helped get me through so many long days in 2007.

3) What was your favorite concert of 2007?

Essex Green with Camera Obscura at Paradise, Boston, 1/27/07
The EG version of the Flying Burrito Brothers' "Older Guys" was the best song of the night.

4) What was your favorite thing about 2007?

Winning free tickets to game 7 of the ALCS (Sox vs. Indians) at Fenway Park - (Followed closely by Dustin Pedroia's 2-run home run in that same game.)


5) What are your best wishes for 2008?

Health and happiness to you and your family.

Thanks for thinking of me. Happy new year!

Michael Barrett | Chill Out | Buy


Note From Flatlander: jds and I were also at that Essex Green/Camera Obscura show down in Boston with our friend gps who writes the blog Pages Within. While I failed to ever post about the show, it certainly was a fun concert.

However, the most memorable experience of the night was that after a lady complained to us that she couldn't see over me and wanted to stand in front of us, gps and her started chatting. Well, that led to gps and her exchanging phone numbers which led to a nice romance which led to an engagement in August and has now led them to getting married this week and heading for the tiny island nation of Palau in Micronesia to work for the next year. It's amazing what a great double bill can do to bring people together.