Missouri’s clearest voice since a certain steamboat pilot, Barna Howard is a meticulous craftsman. His are songwriter’s songs, weaving melody, narrative and gravity in ways only the best have. He comes to us like some overlooked great, reincarnate for one last shot.
Barna’s self-titled debut arrives February 21st.
Barna Howard sounds more like a lost genius from the 60’s than a man about to release his debut album. The first track from Howard’s self-titled album is “Promise, I Won’t Laugh”, a contemplative folk-song sung in the style of early 1960’s folk singers like Dylan and Pete Seeger. Howard cites Neil Young, Bert Jansch and Townes Van Zandt as influences, but he does a nice job of not channeling them in any overtly recognizable way. This song is straightforward and well executed, making it all the more surprising and exciting that this is coming from his first record.
