LEE BARBER

"Lee Barber resonates like a Civil War ballad." - Raoul Hernandez - The Austin Chronicle

"I'd give an eye-tooth for a voice like Lee's. The man can write too." - James McMurtry

About The Missing Pages:

"A musician, sure, but Lee Barber makes clear with The Missing Pages that he's first and foremost an artist." - Jim Caligiuri - The Austin Chronicle

"...spacious arrangements and gracefully measured deliberation... Barber applies exquisite touches of divine damage to original tunes based in acoustic folk and blues. ...the end result is an 11-song suite of highly original and affecting songcraft." - Peter Blackstock, Austin American-Statesman

“…the new songs are given generous space within which to resonate, similar to a jazz record.”… “Like Joe Henry, Barber's songs ring with romanticism and musical confidence...  Missing Pages is an album created by a musical impressionist, a work that is playful and held together by splashes of mood and color.”  Scott Foley, KRFC Radio


About Thief and Rescue:

“a grand reverb soaked celebration of music and life.” - Record Dept.

"The imagery throughout is stunning..." - Side One: Track One

“…an excellent solo album … poetic and stormy and quite personal.” - Austin Chronicle;
#1 - Nine Best Austin Albums of 2009.

"It's a brooding album that questions the validity of music during troubled times, then comes to the conclusion that even when a good song is all you have, it can be enough … one of the best Austin albums of 2009.” - Michael Corcoran, Austin American-Statesman

"The most delightful surprise of 2009. Affecting, intensely personal songs enhanced by sparse arrangements and brittle, memorable imagery." - David Brown, Texas Music Matters, KUT Radio

“Thief and Rescue sounds like a lost Lou Reed album recorded in Austin between Rock and Roll Heart and Street Hassle. Barber's hard-bitten demeanor is worthy of the lofty comparison. Unflinching and world weary, his Thief and Rescue album is a courageous document...” - There Stands The Glass

"There are a lot of good things to say about this record, its warrants repeat listening, which I have given it, and it sounds really good on the radio. Its one of my favorite Austin records of 2009." - Roger Allen, KGSR Radio

“In a town crawling with stunning songwriting talent, it is nothing short of amazing to quietly put out a piece that is so uncompromising…”  - Spike Gillespie, Spike Speaks
 

Everyday Magic - Audra Schroeder, the Austin Chronicle
Weathering life's storms - Michael Corcoran, the Austin American-Statesman
 

Lee was the primary songwriter and singer for The Barbers, a band formed in Mississippi by he and his former wife, Elaine. Their self-titled 1997 debut record announced their arrival on the Austin scene. They released a second album, “You Know How It Is,” in 1999.  The Barbers were featured on KUT Radio’s “LiveSet,” KVRX’s “Local Live” CD, The Austin Music Network, at SXSW ‘99, 2000, 2001, and at NXNW 2000.  The band unraveled in 2001.
 
"Their musicianship is all over the place ....the hippest offering I've heard from Jackson environs since Mose Allison's."   --Van Dyke Parks
 
"The songs ring like sweet calls from the soul.  'You Know How It Is' sounds possessed by a spirit."   --Michael Corcoran - Austin American Statesman
 
"Picture of Evelyn' kicked my ass...'Killed by Love' is murder...yeow!"    --Terry Allen 
              
 "The Barbers are terrific.  Imagine the bluesiness of Waits infused with some of Randy Newman's irreverent wit."     --Steve Rostkoski - Crawdaddy!   

"In the songs of The Barbers is that magical and tough-to-find combination of poetry, humor, and musicianship that brings the sensibilities of the songwriter to the fore...  The Barbers will get their due.  They‘re too good not to."    --Christopher Hess - Austin Chronicle
                                         
"These are the buoys marking Lee Barber’s wonderfully funny, insightful and twisted lyrics… ‘Tissue and Twine’ is a ballad of love lost, nudged gently along by harp and slide guitar, an odd combination that works because the melody is so simple and beautiful Burt Bacharach might curse himself for not writing it.”     --Luann Williams – Texas Monthly
 
"…a batch of graceful and often stunning songs."    --Michael Bertin – Austin Chronicle