
Jill Barber‘s career in music demonstrates true versatility. She’s made folk music with her brother, Matthew Barber. She’s released a solo album, Homemaker, that focuses on family life. Now she returns to another love: French music. We asked about the musical journal that led to her second album of French songs, Encore.
“It’s been a love affair with old French music that’s gone on for almost fifteen years,” she says. “It started when I was at the Montreal Jazz Festival for the first time. I wanted to do one song ‘en français’ so I had a friend translate one of my songs. It was so fun to perform in another language, and the audience reaction gave me a thrill. I rediscovered my love of the French language.”
From that point, Barber jumped in with both feet. “I actually went to the south of France to enrol in a French language school for adults. By day I would learn conversational French, and in the evenings I did my own work. Old French music makes me feel romantic and nostalgic. It kind of changes the air, somehow.”
She says, “When I left that French school, I wanted my education to continue, so I decided to record. That ended up being my first French record, Chansons. And people responded to it. So it’s been a combination of my own love for the music, and then good feedback from people who have the same feeling.”
Barber looks back on all her albums with affection. Family Album, the 2017 recording she made with her brother, Matthew Barber, is a folk album that includes such songs as Townes Van Zandt‘s “If I Needed You” and Ian Tyson‘s “Summer Wages.” The album won a JUNO for Contemporary Roots Album of the Year, and it’s clear it holds a special place in Barber’s heart.
She says, “I love working with my brother, and we have both become musicians. We started singing together as teenagers. To take that into our professional adult lives has been fun. We toured that album, and it was wonderful to see it so well-received.” She adds, “Our mom came on the road with us because I had a new baby at that time. It was beautiful family time. I have always sung with him, so to get to do it on stage was great.”
As Barber prepares for shows in Alberta in early November, she speaks openly about her love of radio. “I’m very familiar with CKUA and deeply grateful for stations like CKUA. My career has been driven by public, community, and campus radio. Passionate music lovers listen to those stations. I’m a big fan and deeply appreciative, as a musician who has received support from the community, and from listener-driven radio stations like CKUA.”
Jill Barber will be live in concert in Calgary November 8 and in St. Albert November 9. Find all the info at jillbarber.com
“La Mer” from Encore: