You’ve heard of Texas country and Oklahoma red dirt. No doubt you’re also familiar with outlaw country and Southern rock. Now take all those Americana music styles and change the scenery. How about Denver, Colorado? That’s exactly where you’ll find The Barlow, a rugged, four-piece band brewing its own mountain-high version of Colorado country. One listen to The Barlow’s third full-length album New Year, Old Me (available June 24th), and you hear a fresh spin on a familiar sawdust-floor friend.
The Barlow – Shea Boynton on vocals, guitar, and banjo; Troy Scoope on bass; Ben Richter on drums; and Brad Johnson on guitar and vocals – consider New Year, Old Me a giant, boot-print step toward solidifying their sound. These four guys have no desire to blend into the background. They have something to say.
New Year, Old Me was recorded between December 2021 and March 2022 at Evergroove Studio, E Squared Studio, and Brogly Sound. The album is filled with songs written during an extensive 2021 tour that found The Barlow boys supporting their second effort, Horseshoe Lounge, by opening for Cody Canada and the Departed, Jaime Wyatt, Read Southall Band, and Micky and the Motorcars. The Barlow also gigged a four-night Colorado run with Austin’s neotraditional country outfit Mike and the Moonpies.
So, now that New Year, Old Me is ready for its barroom spotlight, what’s next for The Barlow? Hitting the road, of course. The band has tour dates lined up through late September with plenty more on the way. When you make Colorado country, you prove your worth in front of an audience ready to ride with you through mountainous terrain and flat plains.
Today Glide is excited to offer an exclusive premiere of the song “Mile Marker Blues” and its accompanying lyric video. This real deal honky tonker sounds like a tried and true road song that showcases this band’s ability to give us their own original style of country music. Simple, catchy lyrics are complemented by twangy pedal steel and warm acoustic guitar to make for a song that would be right at home in a darkly lit saloon or playing out of the speaker of your pickup while cruising down a country road. For fans of real country music, “Mile Marker Blues” offers further proof that The Barlow are a force to be reckoned with.
Vocalist guitar player Shea Boynton shares some thoughts on the tune:
This song started with the verse melody accompanied with random lyrics as place holders. I liked the cadence and melody structure. I wrote a version that was changed once I wrote the chorus line ‘Mile Marker Blues’ and decided the song should be about that. Hope you enjoy the song and video!
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