Artist description The Barkers are a rock band from Austin, Texas. We regularly tour Texas and the midwest, and play original music composed by Alice Spencer and Will Walden. From laid back shuffles to up-tempo rock, The Barkers employ a varity of instruments, textures and sounds to create their unique and accessible style.

Music Style Rock

Musical Influences Harry Nilsson, The Band, Tom Waits, Gram Parsons, Big Star

Artist History The songs are written by the married couple that fronts The Barkers, Alice Spencer and Will Walden. Spencer used to be in Three Merry Widows, a St. Louis-based alternative rock outfit that exploded on the national scene after releasing one album on TVT records almost ten years ago. She spent time after that singing with the Geyer Street Sheiks, a St. Louis band whose forte was music of the thirties, whether blues, folk, or jazz .... Somewhere in there, she took to the stage, singing Patsy Cline songs in a theatrical review.Steve Pick - Riverfront Times - St. Louis , MOUpon returning to her native Texas, Spencer and Walden colaborated in writing music for the fringe theater scene in Austin. Along with drummer Steve Van Balgooyen, they formed The Barkers, and moved from the theaters to the clubs of Texas and the midwest.

Group Members Alice Spencer - Lead Vocals, Piano, Wurlizer, Mellotron, Farfisa Organ,Polychord Organ, Accordian, Xylophone, Songwriter Will Walden - Guitar, Vocals, Fiddle, Mandolin, Tenor Banjo,SongwriterSteve Van Balgooyen - Drums, vocalsWeldon - Electric and String Bass

Instruments Voice, Piano, Wurlitzer, Farfisa Organ, Electric Guitar, Acoustic Guitar, Fiddle, Tenor Banjo, Drums, Xylophone, Electric Bass, Upright Bass

Albums The Barkers - Burn Your Piano

Press Reviews " Like hockey, visual art, and sex, The Barkers are best experienced in person...step right up!" - Jason Cohen, Texas Monthly"...difficult to describe, easy to enjoy, impossible to predict"- Christopher Hess, The Austin Chronicle" Do yourself a favor... go out and see this band."- Jody Denberg, KGSR- FM, Austin, TX " There's promise aplenty in the opening fifteen or twenty seconds of the Barkers album, and the Texas quartet more than lives upto it over the next 48 minutes. "Burn Your Piano" is the most remarkable debut of 1999, and one of the three best records I've heard this year... a swirling stunner"- Steve Pick, Riverfront Times, St. Louis" An obscure band from Austin whose album just blew me away. Imagine the band X if they were significantly less punk, with a healthy doseof Lone Justice thrown in and you start to get the picture. Vocalists Will Walden and Alice Spencer blend together on many tracks like Exene and John did in the old days. Spencer is nearly breathtaking when she solos on the ballad "October Trains". Listen for string bass, tenor banjo, xylophone,polychord organ and Mellotron on this musically diverse recording. The Barkers have gotten great press in Austin. Here's hoping that maybe we'll see them in town for a gig soon. Charles Earle, In Review, Nashville, TN " An exceptional debut by this local quartet, now regulars at The Continental Club...their rootsy, back porch arrangements are jubilant and loose, but the songs sound theatrical and gushing...Best of all is Alice Spencer, the group's singer, a unique talent to keep an ear on." - Chris Riemenschneider, Austin American-Statesman"The songs on Burn Your Piano drift happily across genres, unencumbered by the obvious...mixing cheerful melodies, folk harmonies and a well-developed sense of instrumental quirk." -Jay Hardwig, The Austin Chronicle

Additional Info Magnet Magazine "Year in Music Issue "- 1999 Compilation CD; Twangfest / Edges from the Postcard, P2 Compilation CD - 1997

Location Austin, TX - USA

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