Barry Fontenot (Barry And The Fountains)

Description

Barry and The Fountains is an ambitious, multidisciplinary Deep Soul/R&B project led by Singer-Songwriter Barry Fontenot. Drawing on influences as recent as John Legend and as old as The Epic Of Gilgamesh, this is a band that dares to ask the question, "What if Otis Redding were the frontman of Nirvana?"

Work Sample

Excerpt from an acoustic performance of our upcoming Soul Opera about Sumerian myth, "Psalms For The Diluvian Era,"

Full Band recording of our original Soul-Jazz adaptation of the poem "She Walks In Beauty"

Full band recording of our original soul song, "Second Line."

The first sample is from my narrative work, "Psalms For The Diluvian Era,"

History

Barry And The Fountains is a Soul/Americana project that I developed upon moving to Chicago; initially a Motown Cover group, it eventually became a vehicle for my original music, beginning with our self-produced album, "The Great Extreme."

Artistic Vision

The role of creatives in society is to free others from their fear of freedom and contextualize that freedom in light of what has been and what might be; in aid of that, I use the medium of Soul/Americana music to create art which is both accessible/interesting to modern audiences and rooted in the historical and cultural currents which inform their world. We are a project that dares to dream, "What if Stevie Wonder joined Steely Dan, and they decided to write a Rock Opera about The Iliad?"

Traditional Folk/Ethnic Artform Statement

I"˜m a Black Louisiana Creole musician with roots in the Zydeco tradition of Acadiana, and that plays a huge part in my work; that said, I grew up all across the Central Time Zone, and I suppose I'm more trying to synthesize a kind of Deep Soul that reflects all of my influences and the people I've met. I guess you could say I'm a Delta Crooner trying to express a kind of "Big River Soul,"