Darrell Barr parties it up with a new CD

Cold weather has been an inspiration for many inventions – wool blankets and hot chocolate for starters. But a song?

It turns out country singer Darrell Barr’s catchy Movin’ to Mexico fits the bill. Written as a fun piece, it’s been downloaded and placed on rotation by 30 radio stations across Canada.

It started back in April 2014 when Barr and a few friends met for a songwriting session. Danita Lynn of Dirt Road Angels was the last to arrive shivering and stomping snow off her boots.

“She said, ‘It’s so cold outside I think I’m movin’ to Mexico,’ ” laughed Barr. “I picked up the guitar and started playing and pretty soon we were making up lines. We had so much fun, we started to add a few lines in Spanish.”

Movin’ to Mexico is one of the songs on the newly released 10-track Here I Am and will be a featured song at the Darrell Barr Band concert on Saturday, June 6 at LB’s Pub.

“Movin’ puts a skip in your step. It makes you want to get up and dance.”

Rounding out the band are four of the area’s top-drawer musicians – Don Marcotte (bass), Marc Ladouceur (guitar/vocals), Mark Schultz (drums) and Dennis Meneely (keyboards).

On Here I Am, Barr reveals himself as a storytelling troubadour in the vein of Merle Haggard and Willie Nelson.

He writes about life experiences and on Sept. 12 he was hit hard. On that day Johnny Cash died.

“I couldn’t believe it. On the day before, John Ritter had died. Here there were two Johns that were gone. I sat down and wondered what it would be like when he (Johnny Cash) met the Lord on bended knee.”

From those imaginings, Barr wrote a heartfelt tune tune, Ride of Life, now posted on YouTube.

“Johnny Cash was a legend. He wanted to sing from the get-go. He travelled, did time in Folsom Prison, went through substance abuse and found the true love of his life – June Carter Cash. He left the legacy of a troubadour. He talked about things people could relate to.”

The band also gives the album a good workout with the ’60s groove You Can’t Stop, the up-tempo boogie Shanghaied and the tender ballad My Best Friend.

Every good country album needs a sad-sack “loved and lost” tune. And in this CD, it’s the sadly poignant Endless Goodbye.

“When we had our CD release at the Century Casino, we had a sellout of 400 seats with an eight-piece band and horn section. This is a little smaller, but it’s still going to be very popular.”