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“To”
I heed not that my earthly lot
Has little of earth in it
That years of love have been forgot
In the hatred of a minute
I mourn not that the desolate
Are happier, sweet, than I
But that you sorrow for my fate
Who am a passer by.
…Edgar Allen Poe
Barbara Buckland was born in Iowa and grew up in
Southern California.
Her father chaired the English Department at University
of
Southern California at Long Beach and kept her home
full of books and interesting people. Among those she
met as a child were Aldous Huxley, Groucho Marx, Colin
Wilson, and Joseph Campbell. In such distinguished company,
she developed a deep appreciation for the power of words,
especially poetry.
Her
formative years saw popular music transitioning from
beat to
soul to surf to the British Invasion to psychedelic
to folk and back again.
Buckland
orbits toward music dark, moody, visceral. She cites Ralph
McTell, The
Byrds, Gene
Clark, Larry
Hosford, Bruce
Cockburn, Joni
Mitchell, Townes
Van Zandt, Mickey
Newbury, Jane
Siberry, Tom
Rapp & Pearls Before Swine, and Dave
Carter/Tracy Grammer as major influences.
Buckland has shared, and continues to share, the stage
with many internationally known artists such as Victoria
Williams, Tim
Easton, Tom
Freund, Steven
J.(Jesse) Bernstein, City
Fritter, Berkley/Hart,
Jon
McKinney, and Dan
Bonow; as well as Northwesterners Bill
White, Scott
Andrew, Lisa
Marshall, Bruce
Gordon, Paul
Benoit, and Tim
Bertsch of Jaded
Mary and the HD
Fusion Band. |
She
was one of the original members of the Seattle
Labor Chorus when they formed in March, 1997 for a
performance at the Northwest Folklife Festival with legendary
activist/folk artist, Pete
Seeger.
White, a regular contributor to the music pages of
the Seattle
PI, has described her music as “combining the
long, poetic phrases of Eric Anderson with the beauty
and sensitivity of a Tom Rapp melody.”
Buckland’s
first instrument was piano, then flute. She settled
on
guitar at age 17. She started making up songs at age
15, waking up most mornings with them buzzing around
in her head. Her formal training was minimal,studying
guitar with Joel
Foy and occasionally receiving counsel
(musical & otherwise) from Tim Bertsch.
Aside
from performing, she has made quite a mark on the Seattle
club
scene as a booker and promoter. Among her first clients
was the punk poet Steven
J.(Jesse) Bernstein, currently the subject of a
documentary by Peter
Sillen (Benjamin Smoke, Speed Racer: Welcome to
the World of Vic
Chesnutt), in which she appears. She is always happy
to share her time and knowledge with other musicians
and organizations believing that "helping one helps
all."
Buckland
co-founded the 501 (c)(3)non-profit organization Music
Community Resources where she served as Executive
Director of until October of 2007. She oordinated musicians
for the Hopvine,
the Alley
Upstairs at Café Allegro, and The Fabulous
Rainbow (now Fusion),
as well as interfacing with Seattle and regional organizations
such as The Pacific
Northwest Chapter of the Grammy Assoication, Washington
Lawyers for the Arts, University
District Service Providers Alliance, Real
Change, and KBCS
91.3 FM.
She is a proud member of the
Women's
Audio Mission, Pacific
Northwest Chapter of the Recording Academy (Grammy Association),
and Washington Lawyers for the Arts.She also proudly
serves on the Board of Directors of Washington
Lawyers for the Arts.
In October of 2006 she visited the High Desert of California
to perform, attend, and work at GramFest,
an annual festival held in Joshua Tree, CA, that celebrates
the work of Gram
Parsons, founder of the Alt-Country genre' also
known as "Cosmic American Music." She fell
in love with the area and moved there in June, 2007.
She now divides her time between the Bay Area of California,
Seattle, WA, and the High Desert of California, forming
new alliances and furthering networks of musicians and
organizations as she goes.
She
is also a nurse with a strong interest in hospice work.
Many
times throughout her life she has tried to walk away
from music...but it would not let her go. So to this
day Buckland remains true to her great love for the
mystery of self-expession.
Buckland enjoys answering the question "What if?"
whenever possible.
Join her.
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