When Ian Anderson decided to shut down Jethro Tull in 2012, the shock move left guitarist Martin Barre out of work for the first time since 1968. After a period of bewilderment he returned to action with a new band, releasing solo albums Away With Words and Order Of Play a year apart. On the arrival of Back To Steel in November 2015 – another year on – he told Prog what he’d learned since the end of his time with Tull (who later reconvened without him).
“It’s like a pigeon that’s been locked up in a shed for a few years and then it’s released – it just felt like a huge rebirth,” says Martin Barre of the creative surge that’s yielded three solo albums in two years, including his latest, Back To Steel.
His enthusiasm is such that it’s like talking to a young, upcoming musician rather than the highly regarded, hugely influential guitarist who served for 42 years in one of prog’s premier groups. “It all sounds a bit pretentious, but I just had this void in front of me when Jethro Tull finished, and at first it was a bit intimidating,” he says. “But then I realised I had total freedom to do exactly what I wanted. So the last four years have been amazing, particularly in recording.”
He says Back To Steel is “the most important work in my career as a musician” because it consists largely of his own songs – and showcases him as a fine writer. So does he think perhaps he could have explored that avenue before?
“If I’d been doing this is the 70s or 80s, I’d have my own career really established by now,” he reflects. “But what will be will be. I don’t have any regrets as we were so busy. Jethro Tull was one of the few bands that never stopped working. I can remember only having one year off, ever, and that was the year I started writing music. It wasn’t very good, I hasten to add – but that was the beginning.”
The title track is a mid-paced, bluesy excursion with some searing lead guitar lines, while It’s Getting Better is a high-velocity song with a mercurial structure. Barre riffs on electric guitar and adds intricate lines on mandolin, while twisting vocal melodies are delivered by Dan Crisp and backing singers Alex Hart and Elani Andrea. The songs are very strong; how did he make such a step up in his writing? Was it craft, or – for want of a better phrase – a location of his muse?
“Both those things are right. I truly believe that writing is something you have to learn how to do,” he replies. “With guitar or piano you’ve got strict guidelines of where you’ve got to go; but with songwriting, people either like what you do or they don’t. And you have to do what’s in your heart.”
Barre has ruled himself out of contention as a singer, though, reckoning with some reluctance that it’s too late to try to excel in that field. “I’d have to go through a very dark period of being rubbish and I can’t afford to do that at my age! I didn’t with Tull because there wasn’t the need. Although I don’t know why there wasn’t, because there were a lot of harmonies in some of those albums, particularly the Songs From The Wood era.
“I like writing the parts, but I can’t perform them – I’ve got enough to do with the guitar. It’s one of my great pleasures, arranging music, and that’s part of a musician’s job. But in my band the musicians have a plain sheet as far as their parts are concerned.”
Then there’s the matter of writing lyrics: “I’m confident with the music because I know what I write is going to be okay. I’ve got lots of knowledge and I’ve got a pool I can draw from. But I’m under pressure to make the lyrics as good as I can, so I spend lots of time on them.
“It probably took me longer to do the lyrics than the music, because I’d rewrite them so many times. My wife has a huge collection of CDs – I’d grab one, read the lyrics and think, ‘You know, I shouldn’t be worried!’ When you’re just reading them they’re not enough, but as soon as you add the melody and the vocal quality, they change into another thing.”
Back To Steel contains some acoustic numbers, such as the lovely, baroque-flavoured You And I, with the female vocalists duetting along with guitar picking that’s reminiscent of John Renbourn. Then there’s the more animated Calafel. Does Barre listen to, say, Bach’s lute suites or particular folk guitarists?
“I’ve been listening to Vivaldi’s mandolin concertos; they’re just fabulous,” he says. “I love folk music – some of the virtuoso mandolin players and whistle players are a delight. They don’t so much influence me as inspire me to improve as a mandolin player. Of course, I know [bassist and mandolinist] Dave Pegg really well, and because we’ve been such good friends for a long time, that’s come into the equation.”
Everyone has something to say and has their place in music. I’m comfortable with who I am
Barre includes a number of Tull songs in his band’s live repertoire, including
Fat Man and Sweet Dream – even sections of A Passion Play. On Back To Steel he’s recorded versions of Slow Marching Band from 1982’s Broadsword And The Beast and Skating Away On The Thin Ice Of A New Day from 1974’s War Child.
The original Skating Away builds up with accordion, glockenspiel, guitars, bass and drums gradually introduced into the mix. On his own version, Barre clears space in a previously very busy, detailed song, explaining that he and his Tull colleagues were all active in arranging their songs. “I’m not trying to replicate them or rewrite them, but it’s my take on them. They’ve worked well on stage, and when we do gigs I want to have that Tull connection. But I want it to be my connection, so this is my way of making it a bit more fun for me. The audience hear the same song with different clothes on it.”
Despite being endearingly modest about his abilities, he has an impressive list of American hot-shot guitarist admirers including Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, John Frusciante and Joe Bonamassa. “Great players, but I’m never going to play like them,” he says. “Everyone has something to say and has their place in music – a whizz-kid guitarist or someone who plays a bit and sings. I’m comfortable with who I am – I don’t feel intimidated by other musicians, as I used to years ago.”
Like almost all his generation, Barre started off as a blues player; but it’s a genre he believes has lost its way somewhat. “The 1960s spawned a whole era of players who were just trying to emulate what B.B. King and Buddy Guy were doing, but they missed the point that blues is about note placement and how that note sounds. To me the blues is far more complex; there were so many bad blues players, particularly in England, that it lost its popularity.”
In November, Barre and his group will take part in 2015’s Cruise To The Edge. “It always sounded great to me – a festival on water,” he enthuses. “Allan Holdsworth is playing; Marillion and Yes. It’s only five days – if it were longer I might jump over the side! But I’m more comfortable around other musicians now, so it’ll be fun.”
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