James E Barr
Reviews for James E Barr
GUEST
James is a kind and wonderful guitarist! We feel so lucky to have found him to play our wedding ceremony and dinner. We really enjoyed choosing songs from his eclectic repertoire, which he then executed great skill. Highly recommended.
GUEST
For our wedding, we were looking for ceremony music that would fit the atmosphere of our elegant mountain wedding. James Barr fit the bill to a T. He is a very talented classical guitarest that captured the mood of our wedding so well.
From our first conversation, James was helpful and informative. He has done a number of weddings in the Carolina mountains and offered a lot of great advice to me. He also has a very broad spectrum of music that he can play. My fiance and I like his work so much, that we also had him play for our cocktail hour and dinner music.
James also rolled with the punches in announcing the bridal party, and our first dance, Father/Daughter and Mother/Son dances (since our wedding was small and we did not use a DJ). All in all, James and his music added a beautiful dimension to our ceremony and reception and I would definitely recommend him.
GUEST
We chose Mr Barr to play the classical guitar at our outdoor wedding in Swannanoa NC. He was fantastic! We had tons of people come to us and comment about how talented he was. He played about 30 min before the ceremony and about 4-5 songs during the ceremony. He even had to learn one of the songs just for our wedding.
He was very nice and cheerful and he was quick to respond to all of our emails. It was very obvious he loves playing music and he loves weddings and i really liked that about him.
the only negative thing I can say is that he could not arrive extremely early for the ceremony or come the night before to practice with the singer (my sis-in-law). they were able to run through their two songs before the wedding and they turned out great though.
We would def recommend...
GUEST
We loved having James play the guitar for our ceremony. The choices and variety of songs was perfect for the style of our wedding. James was easy to work with, and very professional. I was able to hear the music wafting up to the window of the Inn where I was waiting while everyone was seated, and it was so relaxing. All of our guests enjoyed the music, and Mark and I thought it was perfect!
Jim is an unvelievable guitarist! He played during my ceremony, cocktail hour, and part of my reception at my wedding in Asheville, NC at Biltmore Estate. I didn't think it was possible, but he sounds 10-times better in person than on his website and is such a nice man! I would highly reccomend him!!
GUEST
Jim is absolutely wonderful!! The samples on his website do not fully do him justice - I am 200% satisfied with Jim!! He played during the ceremony and cocktail hour. SUPER, super nice and sooooo talented!!
I am very honored to endorse James as a talented, easy going professional. I had the pleasure of having James perform at an intimate Wedding Ceremony in Highlands. You will be in great care & assurance of the perfect music for your perfect day!! Rev Jacqueline Wekis
About James E Barr
James takes great delight in playing for wedding ceremonies, rehearsal dinners, wedding receptions, corporate events and similar occasions. He has performed in most major venues for weddings in NC, SC, GA, FL, and Eastern TN, including state museums, concert halls, and attractions.
James has played professionally since his early teen years, in styles ranging from swing, classical, folk, jazz, rock, theater, blues and even square dance.
He attended Berklee College and B.U. summers on scholarship while still in high school. He also wrote music for theater and played in the orchestra for three summers at the Stockbridge Playhouse (MA) and Somers Point Theater (NJ).
After two years with a rock group, he settled in Manhattan for the next 15 years, where he first played in avant-garde groups and finally came full circle to compose and play on dozens of TV/radio commercials, records, corporate films and documentaries. During this time, he was musical director for LIFE magazine's 50th birthday gala at Radio City Music Hall.
His String Trio was recorded by musicians from the NY Philharmonic and Metropolitan Opera and is posted on his download site: www.reverbnation.com/JamesBarr This piece was used in a documentary film he wrote and directed in Seville, Spain about the international olive industry.
James has played with diverse recording personalities such as Luther Van Dross and Gil Evans, as well as on many cabaret, folk and rock recordings. Paul Bley, Hal Overton, and Gerard Saulter were among his coaches. Other profound influences were Indian music studies with Dr. Wansantha Singh and eclectic cabaret work with Joanne Beretta in NYC. His film scores, as well as his compositions, were performed by New York's top studio and classical musicians. He has also worked in Copenhagan, Paris and London.
After a foray into film making, advertising, and marketing in Florida, James returned to music, focusing on classical guitar repertoire, as well as pop music played in his unique style, influenced by his jazz, classical and Indian studies.
James is a member of the The New York Classical Guitar Society, and a past or current member of AFM#802 NYC, SAG, AFTRA and other professional associations.
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