* Honey B Music

To listen to a sample of my very own funkalicious 'Honey B' music, click HERE!

The song you just listened to comes from time booked in an old school analogue studio. No tricks or samples or loops or quantizing -- just me playing my music. I played all the instruments -- bass, guitar, keyboards, party horns, and drums -- and sang all the vocals. It was such a deep thrill for me to do it all. Anyway, a shout out to Glen Reely who engineered it and thanks again to Vince Jones for his remix! It was released under my old aka 'Barbara B' and still receives air play on Super-Soul-Thursdays on 102.7 FM.

The lyrics? Here's what's happening when you see them in print. I am repeating the same sentence, but dropping the last word each time the phrase comes around. Kind of like musical chairs - but with words disappearing instead of places to sit. Every word I remove creates new meaning. Plus, the total shape of the poem ends up being a visual vessel. I love unexpected patterns - it reminds me that they are everywhere - which is reassuring in this chaotic world.

I want to love you like a woman loves a man
I want to love you like a woman loves
I want to love you like a woman
I want to love you like
I want to love you
I want to love
I want to
I want
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I want to love you like a woman loves a man

My love affair with soul music began early in life and by the age of eleven I was laying down solid grooves on my drum kit, writing my own songs on piano and guitar, and recording original music on my oh-so-cool 2-track 'real'-to-reel. I was crazy about making music!

Even though my dad was not really a musician, he enjoyed playing guitar and singing and had the wisdom and insight to bring all kinds of instruments into our home once we started showing interest. Thanks dad.

I was also deeply influenced by my numerous trips to New York City to visit my mom, who moved there when I was really young. Unlike Vancouverites, New Yorkers sung at full volume while walking down the street; they set their drum kits up on the sidewalk; they played their horns out their apartment windows; they got down in the subways. And the visual arts were equally inspiring -- everywhere I went I saw it; stencils on the sidewalk, graff-art on buildings; poems in doorways, hand drawn images on people's clothes. I mean, street-level creativity was simply a part of everyday life there. It blew my mind!

I gained my first public musical recognition when I jumped into the local independent music scene as a teenager playing drums with a host of wild characters. During that time I created music with everyone from strippers to avante garde artists--it was an absolutely zany time.


In my early twenties I helped form a clever, quirky, all-female-band called Bolero Lava That's me on the far left, next to Phaedra Struss, Lorraine Tetrault, Vanessa Richards and Laurel Thackeray on the far right. For more band photos click here. We played original music, which the media could never accurately describe. No, we were not like 'The Bangles" or "Bananarama" other than being all female. And no, we were not a 'punk band' - hardly (!) - although we looked pretty theatrical. We were just a group of inspired young women making our own music at that time. Anyway, our two disks, Much Music video, cross-country tours and memorable live shows with the likes of The Red Hot Chili Peppers and Taj Mahal put us at the forefront of the local scene and estastablished us as national talent. I also continued to travel to New York during that time where I continued to do various projects with friends who were doing cool stuff, too.

After leaving Bolero Lava, I took a long break from making music with others and found myself back where I had been happiest all along--at home--blissfully recording my own songs. I absolutely love writing, playing a range of instruments, and developing layers and layers of vocal harmonies. I now have about 50 songs recorded on an old-school 4-track which Jim Byrnes gave me along with a fender strat, an amp, a mic, a mic stand...What an incredibly gifted musician and supportive friend.

In the past few years I have had the pleasure of playing a few live shows with the extremely talented Chin Injeti (originally from Bass is Bass) at his Thursday-Nite-Dynamite sessions. These were stellar showcase nights that happened once a month with jaw dropping talent in the house like Ridley Bent, and stellar behind the scene music-makers like Roger Swan in the audience. Someone amazing would always show up. One of my favorite shows was when my sister Tania Brief came in from New York and sang with me, my pal Darrell Stables played drums, the lovely Joyita Rubins played bass, and Chin Injeti sung and played guitar.

Right now I am keeping my passion alive and chops up by recording at home -- singing and playing with my beautiful and talented boyfriend (shown here) Bombyx Du Murier. He sings in French and I sing in English. It's hi-fi-bi-lingual! We met in a crazy choir project we were both involved in awhile back (go to the Choral Fixation post on this blog for more about that...)


Right now, if you want a funky steamin-streamin audio treat, there is a great web-radio show out of Monreal called 'WE FUNK RADIO' . They play a lot of rare funk 45's. Below is one of my favorite shows from that site. You can hear it anytime - 24/7. Check out this link:

Play WEFUNK Show 394

Here's what you'll hear:

herbie hancock - fat mama
talk (over the loopdigga - ashby road, soul sonata, & mind touch)
marc moulin - aria
gil scott-heron - angola louisiana
harvey mason - marching in the streets
pieces of a dream - mr. airy dream
fatback - you gotta believe
saundra phillips - miss fatback
buster williams - the hump
jeremy steig - mint tea
david frost & billy taylor - bright star in the east
phillip lambro - main theme from murph the surf
david diggs - chew baby chew!
don ellis - superstar
billy martin - egg roll
j.c. - you can't tell the man by the song
red beans & rice - let my people go
rhythm combination & brass - mr. clean
cedar walton - beyond mobius
rolf kuhn group - uncle archibald
joe mcphee - shakey joe
dj spooky - ibid, desmarches, ibid
chicago underground duo - micro exit
hampton hughes - web
stone alliance - sweetie pie
jimmy jones - live and let live
junior mance - don't cha hear me calling to ya
talk (over richard "groove" holmes - down home funk)

That should keep you inspired for a few hours... enjoy!