Watch: Danny Barnes & Arlo the Music Critic
How to describe musician Danny Barnes? He’s a banjo virtuoso, former frontman of the Bad Livers, DIY music proponent and occasional collaborator with Bill Frisell (and even Dave Matthews). He’s an imposing character – like Nels Cline, he looms tall and is capable of making tremendously loud, sometimes aggressive music that can be a little scary. But Danny (like Nels) is also the sweetest guy you could ever meet. He can talk to you about speed metal, punk or the merits of late bluegrass legend Don Stover... and we love him for that.
Danny graced the cover of the Fretboard Journal’s 35th issue in a pretty exhaustive feature by Matt Sircely. We covered a lot of ground but the one thing we didn’t capture was Danny’s knack for creating visual art.
During one of his recent visits to our offices, we asked Danny if we could capture him sketching. We expected greatness but had no idea that our mild-mannered banjo hero would enter a trance-like state and create a comic that was hilarious and eye-opening. Hope you enjoy it.
