Many artists spend decades striving for their first Grammy nomination. Bobby Bare Jr. achieved that milestone by age eight, earning a nod for “Daddy What If”, the Shel Silverstein-penned duet with his father, country music singer-songwriter Bobby Bare Sr. As an adult, the younger Bare has carved out his own musical path, best known for injecting humor, pathos, and pop culture references into his songwriting in the style of Silverstein. Today, we’re diving into the life and career of Robert Joseph “Bobby” Bare Jr., born in Nashville, Tennessee, on this day (June 28) in 1966.
One of his father’s three children with wife Jeannie, Bare Jr. grew up in Hendersonville, Tennessee, next door to country music’s first couple, George Jones and Tammy Wynette.
After “Daddy What If”—an imagined conversation between a father and his son—took off, he regularly performed the duet with his dad.
Once he aged out of the little boy in the song, he worked with the stage crew and at the merchandise table at Bare Sr.’s shows.
Bobby Bare Jr.’s Musical Journey
Bare Jr. obtained a degree in psychology from the University of Tennessee, but admits his goal was always to “avoid working a real job at any cost.”
Thus, he began playing guitar and writing songs, all of which were heavily critiqued by family friend Shel Silverstein.
In the mid-’90s, he formed the roots-rock outfit Bare Jr., which landed a contract with Immortal Records, at that time home to Korn and Incubus.
The group released two albums, neither of which caught on commercially. However, Bare Jr. did manage a minor hit with “You Blew Me Off,” featured in the 1999 romantic drama Cruel Intentions.
In 2002, Bobby Bare Jr. released the album Young Criminals’ Starvation League, named for a rotating cast of musicians who backed him.
He has recorded three albums total with the band, which has included members of Lambchop, …And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead, and My Morning Jacket.
Since 2016, Bare Jr. has played guitar with the indie-rock band Guided by Voices, formed in Dayton, Ohio, in 1983.
Featured image by Scott Legato/Getty Images
The post Born 60 Years Ago Today in Nashville, the Singer-Songwriter Son of a Country Music Legend Who Grew up Next Door to Tammy Wynette and George Jones appeared first on American Songwriter.
Author: Erinn Callahan
« Alan Jackson Plays Triumphant Nissan Stadium Set After Weather Delay at His Final Concert
Remember When Patti LaBelle and Michael McDonald Teamed up for One Heartbreaking Duet in 1986? »