Summer’s not over just yet. Sallie and Weezy Ford are launching their band The Barbaras’ second record, Rollercoasters, on Sept. 19 at The Showdown Saloon. The Barbaras is built of many genres, including country, folk and swing. The album’s release show, presented by Pickathon, features opening act Jesco Payne & the Painkillers.
The Fords migrated separately from Asheville, N.C., to Portland, which they consider a kindred city to their hometown—both cities are progressive and artistic, surrounded by vast nature. Sallie arrived in 2006, and Weezy followed in 2012. Sallie Ford & the Sound Outside was one of the early 2010s’ most popular Portland bands (they once played on Late Show With David Letterman). The group broke up in 2013, and reunited briefly in 2018. Weezy Ford, meanwhile, established a respected solo career with albums like Sugarcane and In the Movement. By 2016, the pair had formed a band together after exploring separate music careers.
“I didn’t really love touring,” Sallie told WW on a Friday afternoon, “But I still wanted to play music, so I started The Barbaras with my sister, Weezy. It seemed like a fun project to do for the passion of it.”
“I think Portland is unique,” Weezy adds, “in the way that everyone supports each other when you go out to a country show—everyone from the scene is there and it’s definitely the sweetest little scene that I’ve been a part of thus far.”
Portland may not be Nashville, but The Barbaras’ founders say country music thrives in the City of Roses. “It’s cool that there’s a lot of genre-mixing in the music scene,” Sallie Ford says. “I do think it’s cool that country is definitely popular right now, but I do see a lot of bills that are multi-genre.”
Touring has been on the docket for the duo’s band whose members consist of lead guitarist Jeff Munger (The Sound Outside), steel guitarist James Greenan (Cedar Shakes), bassist Mark Robertson (Harlowe), and drummer Sam Brewer (The Naked Mole Rats). They have spent this year performing at Pacific Northwest festivals, such as Boise’s Treefort Music Fest, Pendleton’s Jackalope Jamboree, and Astoria’s Festival of the Dark Arts.
“I think we are a unique blend of many genres,” Weezy Ford says. “We have a lot of different things going on, but we were inspired by girl groups of the ’60s like The Dixie Cups, and then also midcentury crooner country like Patsy Cline and Skeeter Davis. There are a few songs on the record that are a little more surfy, rock and roll, and we’ve got quite a few that are Western swing.”
“Rollercoasters speaks to the highs and lows of life, dating, relationships and emotions,” Sallie adds.
While much of the album was inspired by the Ford family’s unique style of humor, other songs were written by the entire ensemble. Guest musicians Haven Multz Matthews (The Silver Triplets) and Buddy Weeks (Jenny Don’t and the Spurs) also lent their talents to the new record. Bob Reynolds (Mitch and the Melody Makers) played percussion on the album and filled a big role in the collaborative songwriting.
“I feel like each song has its own little hidden special moments—a cool weird harmony, strange key sounds/percussion,” Munger says via email. “Mark’s bass parts going from mild mannered to Pet Sounds on acid and back again in seconds.”
The Barbaras recorded Rollercoasters at the Fords’ Corbett studio Littlepage Recording. Robertson mixed, engineered and mastered the album, recording it unconventionally on a reel-to-reel tape machine. This recording medium preceded the cassette tape, and the audibly old-fashioned method pairs charmingly with The Barbaras’ vintage-inspired country sound.
“Mark makes analog studio equipment from the midcentury for a living, so we have all this analog gear that goes through compressors and preamps that he built,” Weezy Ford explains. “We use a reel-to-reel tape machine and then transfer it digitally. I think it’s pretty unique.”
Rollercoasters features tracks like the lightheartedly feel-good, doo-woppy tune “Johnny.” “Boyfriend Heaven” transports listeners to the sunny sounds of the ’50s, while “Hey Stranger” pokes fun at the complexities of being enamored while proudly independent. The lyrics “Oh shit, goddamn/I’ve got terrible taste in men,” in the aptly titled song “Terrible Taste” offer listeners a reminder of the musicians’ modern era despite their throwback sound.
The Barbaras employ blood harmonies—a close-harmony style commonly found in classic country, popularized by family acts like The Louvin Brothers and Everly Brothers. The fact the crooners are siblings allows for this distinctive, harmonic blend. Seemingly mind-reading communication guides The Barbaras’ performances. The sisters’ artistry shines through not only in their music, but at their merch table. Munger and Sallie Ford are graphic designers who created Rollercoasters’ album artwork and merch designs. A carnival motif hints at the colorful, playful sound of the record.
“I think there is a fun reckless energy with this record that feels honest and vulnerable at the same time,” Robertson says via email. “The idea of embrace [of] imperfection, celebration in failure, and navigating the only way you know how.”
SEE IT: The Barbaras and Jesco Payne & the Painkillers at The Showdown Saloon, 1195 SE Powell Blvd., showdownpdx.com. 8 pm Friday, Sept. 19. $20.01. 21+.
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