Songstress flying high with new release
Advertisement
Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 14/05/2021 (1626 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
The inspiration for an Oak Bluff songstress’s latest record came right outside her kitchen window.
Barbara Joy said she loves opening the window and listening to the birds warbling nearby as she makes tea.
“That is the sweetest music,” the adult contemporary singer said.
Joy’s new song, All the Birds, is dedicated to quiet moments like those mornings, she said. She wrote the music about a decade ago and has performed it at gigs throughout the years. However, she only chose to tweak and record it last September, and she saved it until spring to release.
The lyrics — which reference birds, rain, the seasons and God — have taken on a new meaning this past year, Joy said.
“During the pandemic, you just need to stop and enjoy nature,” she said. “You need to stop and enjoy the simple things, the beautiful things, because they’re all around you — like all the birds.”
She said nature is something people can still experience regardless of lockdown measures. By releasing the song, Joy hopes to encourage folks to appreciate the natural world.
The musician also pays homage to God, who she said has been a constant in her life during the pandemic.
“We’ve had to be praying every day for protection,” Joy, 59, said.
Her new single, which she classifies as light pop and folk, is not her first foray into recordings.
Joy has two albums, and she’s released five singles in the past year and a half. She’s aiming to create a third album for 2022.
“I really would like to wait til’ we can actually get out there and sing the songs live,” she said, adding she likes to have release parties.
She works with producer and musician Jordan Jackiew of Tailored Recording; their partnership began about 14 years ago, when she started writing songs.
Joy is known locally for her piano talent, but it’s actually Jackiew who plays the piano on her tracks. Joy creates demos of her songs, and Jackiew makes edits when he records the final versions.
Joy has spent a relatively short amount of time releasing songs — about 10 years — compared to her background in music.
She was leading church choirs by age six, she said. She would play piano at her cousin’s house at eight years old because she didn’t have her own instrument. She’d learn songs by ear.
“I just could see the keys, where the notes were, where it would sound right,” she said. “I could feel that.”
A couple years later, Joy’s parents bought her a piano. She took classical lessons through The Royal Conservatory of Music throughout elementary and high school, and in her 20s, she took classical voice training with the same institution.
She’s performed in churches across Winnipeg and southern Manitoba, she’s taught at schools in the Red River Valley School Division, and folks have heard her voice in many coffee shops. Now, she gives music lessons over video call and sits on Red River Valley School Division’s board of trustees.
“I’m really looking forward to when we can actually get out there again and sing live,” she said.
All the Birds is available on Spotify, iTunes, Amazon Music and Pandora. People can also hear it on YouTube.