BARBARA JO KAMMER

BARBARA JO KAMMER
ONE SONG AT A TIME

No Label
BJK001

Barbara Jo Kammer is a Colorado Front Range singer and songwriter who performs mostly with her band, the Hippie Buckaroos. The group was named one of the Top Ten Cover Bands in Colorado in 2016 by Westword music magazine in Denver. One Song At A Time however, is Kammer’s first-ever solo album made at 62 years of age. Appropriately titled, the recording explores her ten-year journey of sobriety from drugs and alcohol, a success story that has led to her work as a Music Therapist.

While the Hippie Buckaroos play a wide variety of music from their base in Lafayette, Colo., Kammer wanted her first solo project to be in the bluegrass genre. So, she made the cool choice of bringing in her friend KC Groves, who co-produces the album with Aaron Youngberg. Groves is a long-time member of Uncle Earl and an accomplished multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter and protege of artists such as Laurie Lewis, Sally Van Meter, and the late Charles Sawtelle of Hot Rize.

Recorded at Swingfingers Studio in the Rocky Mountains west of Fort Collins, this album centers on Kammer’s folk music-style voice backed up by a quality assortment of hired hands. The songs range from classic cuts such as Johnny Nash’s “I Can See Clearly Now” to a cool remake of Peter Rowan’s recent cut “So Good” to the Native American haunt of “Medicine Wheel.” Wonderful performances are heard from Jake Simpson on fiddle, Charlie Rose on banjo, and Mollie O’Brien on harmony vocals. This is a good album for those fighting sobriety, and pleasant to the ear for those wanting a sweet and positive change-of-pace groove from the blue skies of Colorado. (www.hippiebuckaroos.com)DH