Danny Barnes - Got Myself Together

Eclectic clawhammer and three-finger picker Danny Barnes' first collection in six years showcases a singular songwriter and player in peak form as Got Myself Together (Ten Years Later) reworks his classic album a decade later. The Seattle-area resident simply strips songs to their essence on the new recording.I spend a lot of time developing new contexts like the barnyard electronics aesthetic, Barnes says. Get Myself Together was my last acoustic-type recording and I get quite a bit of fan mail about it, but the label that released it went out of business. I wanted to make something with this record that featured more of my raw acoustic sound, as though I was kind of playing in your living room.From his time with Bad Livers in the '90s, through stints with Tim O'Brien, Bill Frisell, Jeff Austin, and alternative string bands of every kind and his own solo projects, Barnes has demonstrated a vision for the banjo unencumbered by preconceptions about how the instrument should be used in contemporary music.This year Danny received the Steve Martin Prize for Excellence in Banjo and Bluegrass. The winner is determined by a board consisting of J.D Crowe, Pete Wernick, Tony Trischka, Anne Stringfield, Alison Brown, Neil V. Rosenberg, B�la Fleck and Steve Martin.