Former local finds music brings him back home

By JIM TRAGESER - Staff Writer | Wednesday, April 30, 2008 10:42 AM PDT ∞

When he starts to sing, Scotland Barr's got a twang to his voice that would make a Texas cowpoke greet him like a brother. But he's lived in Portland, Ore., since the 1990s, and before that, San Diego.

"I grew up in San Diego, but I consider Del Mar my hometown," he said by phone from his home in Portland recently, where he was getting ready to head out on a tour that will bring him to North County for two dates this week.

The son of a Marine (he was born at Balboa Naval Hospital), Barr said he left the county at 21.

"I moved up to Santa Cruz; everyone I grew up with migrated to the Bay Area to go to school or Santa Cruz." While in Santa Cruz, he fell in love ---- and found himself in Portland.

"It was the typical boy-meets-girl thing; she wanted me to come up to Portland. The music scene was happening ---- this was back in the '90s ---- so I moved up here, and I never left.

"I never had any intention of staying, but I never left."

Growing up in San Diego's Bay Park neighborhood, Barr said his first exposure to music was his older brother's record collection.

"I had one brother, and he was 13 years older than me. His was the first music I ever heard ---- Ten Years After and the Beatles."

Barr said he had no inkling of musical talent in his immediate family ---- not until he was into adulthood.

"My father had been extremely musical ---- I didn't know that until I was about 21. I came home one night and somone was playing a drum kit out in the garage, and it was him. He was pretty old when I was born, but he'd been in a bunch of swing bands."

As far as his own musicality, Barr said his family couldn't afford to buy any instruments or provide him lessons for most of his childhood. It wasn't until he was in high school that the music bug bit him. At that time, his parents did buy him some guitar lessons.

"I pleaded and got guitar lessons, and promptly told the guitar teacher that I didn't want to learn how to read music, just teach me every Clash song you know.

"I'm by far the weakest musician in the band," he added, laughing.

It was leaving town that led to his current devotion to a career in music, Barr said.

"We had countless bands through high school, but I think Santa Cruz was the first serious project I put together ---- a band called Nameless Faces. We did a few recordings and played quite a bit up in Santa Cruz. We called it gutter rock. It was kind of folk rock with a punk edge. Which is pretty much what's going on now."

He said the Slow Drags have been together about 2 1/2 years, and with the CD out now, they're concentrating on touring full-time.

Barr wrote most of the songs on the album, and said given his relatively weak musicianship (compared with the rest of the band), that's his contribution.

"Our band works really good because we have really specialized talents ---- songwriting's always been mine. When I learned how to play four chords, I was off and running. Instead of studying guitar and becoming a better musician, I've always been fascinated by songwriting."

Barr said he's not particularly disciplined in his writing; he said he'll sit down and try to plod through coming up with new songs, but added that the best ones just come to him.

"I have no idea where it comes from; some of them mystify me."

Scotland Barr and the Slow Drags

When: 9 p.m. May 2

Where: Surf and Saddle, 123 W Plaza St., Solana Beach

Admission: Free

Info: (858) 755-9474 or surfandsaddle.com

When: 9 p.m. May 3

Where: The Leucadian, 1542 N. Coast Highway 101, Leucadia

Admission: Free

Info: (760) 753-2094

Web: scotlandbarr.com

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