A few days ago, Barry Barnes of Sinnerboy (for many people the best Rory Gallagher tribute band), was in Kavala as a part of his mini-tour in Greece. Rockoverdose.gr and Apostolos Pantazoglou had the chance to talk to him about Rory, his concerts and his love for Greece. You can read the interview below.
Rockoverdose.gr: Hello Barry. Welcome to Rockoverdose.gr
Barry: Thank you.
Rockoverdose.gr: So you are once again, back in Greece. You are coming very often here and that’s something we really like. But how did all these start?
Barnes: Well it all started at the official website of Rory Gallagher. You know there is a chat there and people were chatting about Rory and some of the concerts I do. And then there was this girl from Athens, Anthia, who said that no-one comes to Greece to play Rory’s music. I said I would come. And that was it. That happened in 2007. Since then, I am coming to Greece every year. I absolutely love Greece, the people and of course the food.
Rockoverdose.gr: Does it feel like some sort of second home?
Barry: Definitely. I feel really loved each time I am coming here.
Rockoverdose.gr: Your album “Rory” is mostly recorded in Athens right?
Barry: Yes eight out of twelve songs were recorded in Athens but it took longer than it should because the studio had some big problems. It had to close after the recordings and we almost lost everything but fortunately everything ended up good and I am very happy with the result. My friend Manos Kampouris helped me a lot.
Rockoverdose.gr: You know, I must say that there is a strange connection between Greeks and the Irish music. Rory is much loved here. Can you explain that? You know most of the people in the official Rory Gallagher Facebook page are Greeks.
Barry: Well I cannot say for sure why this is happening. Maybe, I really don’t know, but maybe I played my little part in this, coming all these years and playing Rory’s music. Every year more and more people are coming to our shows. It is great. And I am really happy when I see young people who unfortunately didn’t have the chance to see him live or even be born when he was alive.
Rockoverdose.gr: You must have been at many Gallagher shows right?
Barry: 20 actually. I never missed a concert in Manchester and I went to some other close areas where he was playing. You know I used to think that one of his most faithful fans. But I was so wrong. Doing these tribute concerts I met people that have seen him hundreds of times.
Rockoverdose.gr: The most important of these 20 concerts must have been the first one right?
Barry: Definitely. It was back in 1969. I have seen many big bands until then. Even The Beatles. And all these bands had huge amps, big productions etc. So I walk into the venue, and I was really disappointed. I was waiting again to see big amplifiers and all the rest but instead of that there was just a small Vox on a kitchen chair! I thought to myself: “what am I doing here?” But as soon as Rory came out and plugged his Stratocaster to that Vox, he changed my life forever.
Rockoverdose.gr: How did you discover Rory Gallagher?
Barry: Well this is what happened. I wanted to buy the album everybody was talking about. It was the first album of Led Zeppelin. So I go to the “Rare Records” record store in Manchester with my 15 shillings. I ask the employee for the record and they did not have it! But I was 17 and I had money in my pocket. I had to spend them on something. So while I was searching I saw a cover of an album that I really like it. It was Taste’s “On The Boards”. A little later was the concert I told you previously.
Rockoverdose.gr: You did the first tribute to Rory Gallagher back in 1996. How did you come up with this idea?
Barry: Rory’s death. I wanted his spirit and his music to stay alive. I thought that I would be one of the few that had not forgotten him. Back then I had a band called “Fat Cat Bobby” and we were playing a lot of Rory’s songs. So I booked a local pub named “The Pomona”, and had no idea what would happened. But it seemed that there were many people still remembering Rory. The pub was full and there people outside waiting to enter. It was amazing.
Rockoverdose.gr: And you decided to do this an annual festival. You changed several places for the festival and now you have established it in Liverpool right?
Barry: Exactly. At “The World Famous Cavern Club”. It is a great place. And we have a lot of support there. Now every year we meet there, a lot of friends that share one thing. Our love for Rory.
Rockoverdose.gr: Why in Liverpool and not any other place in England or even Ireland?
Barry: Well, since the first tribute gig, we had people from so many different places coming. From Germany, Holland, France etc. As time went by, they made their own festivals. We continued having our own and now we are very happy that we do it every year in Liverpool. As I said we have a lot of support. And the reason why we don’t do it in Ireland it’s because they have their own festival in Ballyshannon which is really big.
Rockoverdose.gr: Yes but they have support from the municipal authorities etc right? What you do, you do it on your own. And plus you are the one who started all these. How do you feel?
Barry: Yes, I do it all by myself with the help of some friends. We do it because we love doing it. When we are onstage and we see all these people having such a good time we are very happy. That’s our payment.
Rockoverdose.gr: How do you feel, that you are somehow responsible for all these? The tribute gigs, people inspired by you to learn about Rory etc?
Barry: Well it’s definitely really good. But I don’t feel special. We are all Rory’s fans. When I play a tribute concert, I don’t feel different from all the other people that are there. We are all there for the same reason. To remember Rory and his great music. I just happen to play the music.
Rockoverdose.gr: What really saddens me is that Rory was never considered one of the greatest musicians in polls of magazines etc, but if you ask anyone who is into blues they will tell you he was one of a kind. Why do you think he is treated this way by the media?
Barry: It is very frustrating. You know one time I happen to have a magazine with the top 50 slide guitarists. So I start turning the pages trying to find Rory. I keep turning and no mention of him. I reached the 50th place and he was not there. That is so stupid. Rory was one of the greatest slide guitarists ever and he was not on that poll. For me this is outrageous. But he wouldn’t bother. He was kind of underground. He had a passion for the music. The rest was not that important. You know there was a plan to make a big Hollywood movie for him. But I wouldn’t like that. They would focus on his problems and not on what he did for music. He wouldn’t like it either.
Rockoverdose.gr: Do you have any plans for any future release with Sinnerboy or solo?
Barry: Not really. We just want to play Rory’s music. Why go and release something that he already released. Maybe sometime in the future a live recording but not I don’t know.
Rockoverdose.gr: Anything that you would like to say to your Greek friends?
Barry: Thank you for the support all these years. I really love it here and I wish I can keep coming every year and celebrate Rory’s music and life.
For Rockoverdose.gr
Apostolos Pantazoglou
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