Barney Bentall: Press

Legendary Canadian singer songwriter Barney Bentall doesn't seem to be making any plans to retire these days.  His passion and unmatched talent really shine on his latest release "The Inside Passage".

We get started with a catchy upbeat tune called "Hold my Heat" that does a perfect job pulling you in and building you up for the irresistible chorus.   The song instantly grabs your attention and puts you in the driver’s seat for this amazing album.  "Sending out a Message" rounds out and softens the overall sound of the album with a beautifully written mid tempo song that contends for best track.  There is a great range of instrumentation used on this album with horns, pedal steel, piano, fiddle, glockenspiel, mandolin even whistling. Bentall’s musical seasoning and life experience really shine with "I never Meant To Make You Cry", this beautifully timeless ballad is a great addition this impressive set of songs. One track in particular that really stands out is Papa Henry's Boy, it's got an old time country feel to it and would get any crowd to their feet in a hurry, it's a hootin, hollerin good time.  If you're a fan of artists like Bruce Springsteen's, Fred Eaglesmith, Bruce Cockburn and Steve Dawson this is a must have in your collection.
- Andre Skinner

Barney Bentall has reinvented himself in the last decade. He delivers what is his artistic apex to date in the brand new The Inside Passage........

The lyrical acumen may be most obviously the work of a man who insightfully peers into specific vignettes he has created - not just the work of a man who can examine his own life journey - on the album's penultimate track. She Ran Away is an incredibly dense story within a simple narrative - the like of which would recall the sort of genius we associate with Fred Eaglesmith. The song fully engages the listener at every turn, culminating in his recognizing, "I was serving the fifth day of my sentence" as his private fate as the song ends.

During the past decade Barney Bentall has transformed personally and musically to emerge as one of Canada’s prolific folk/roots singer/songwriters. His sixth studio album, The Inside Passage, paints portions of a life’s journey.

Bentall rose to critical acclaim during the 80’s with hits Something To Live For and Come Back To Me as the leader of Barney Bentall and The Legendary Hearts.

The recently released The Inside Passage only shows that Bentall is still at the top of his game. Amazingly the songs were written during the Spring and Summer of 2008 and then recorded in a two week span.

The album’s musical foundation is a cross section of Canadian country flair woven through every track with Bentall’s vocals as he strums an acoustic guitar, Daniel Lapp is the fantabulous fiddler and Johnny Ellis dishes up guitars, pedal steel, mandolin, banjo and keyboards.

The CD catches the listener immediately from the first song with catchy lyrics and riffs in the albums first released single “Hold My Heart”. The chorus “Hey, when I fall to pieces / When I fall apart / Would you be so kind and hold my heart,” certainly delivers proof that Barney still possesses a natural gift which he graciously shares.

Each of the 11 songs reflect Bentall’s distinctive fingerprint, only to portray a continued growth with his talent. The autobiographical title track The Inside Passage chronicles his relationship with his deceased Dad and Face to Face is obviously a song for his daughter on her wedding day.

The final tune is a Murray McLaughlin collaborative ballad, Disappearing, revealing an inner child prevalent in most people despite their age. 

The Inside Passage is one of the got to haves and is reflective of a Canadian musician who has paid his dues and dually deserves recognition by the music industry, his followers, listeners and peers. 

By Dave Ferguson
Jan 12, 2010

Barney Bentall's Gift Horse is reflective and pensive, a well-played and produced soft rock album influenced more by western and mountain folk traditions than overt country music influences... this is a nice, laid-back addition to your collection that will ring true and clear.

Though hardly a household name this side of the pond, BARNEY BENTALL nonetheless drags a substantial body of work in his wake. He's a Calgary native now based in Vancouver, while his CV includes his legend-building years with well-respected Canadian troupers Legendary Hearts.

And, while my radar had failed to detect his solo career until now, it turns out that 'The Inside Passage' is not only his seventh studio outing, but it's yet another reason to marvel at the seemingly endless supply of great Roots-Rock oozing outta British Columbia.

However, while 'The Inside Passage' is a recognisably Roots-related record, it's often served sunny side up with a generous quart of Rock/ Pop to help wash it down. Opening track 'Hold My Heart' is breezy, no-nonsense and direct with an anthemic chorus and plenty of punch in reserve, even if it does make space for a Byron Berline-style fiddle solo from one Daniel Lapp. 'On This Beautiful Night”s tale of a stranger in a strange land (“dagger totin' desperadoes taking in the sights/ Evening gowns and black Tuxedos bathed in blue Italian light”) has a powerful Jayhawks-y groove and is punched up by a horn section, while 'Catch A Train”s melody sounds vaguely reminiscent of Rod Stewart's 'Maggie May'. That's not a problem, mind, and its' control-your-own-destiny message (“no, I won't go quietly into the night...and it's far too late to become what my father hoped”) is all too easy to relate to if you've been round the block a few times yourself.

However, 'The Inside Passage' is about much more than simply getting your rocks off. It's a consummate singer/ songwriter record featuring a wealth of moods and styles. There are Roots-ier dalliances along the way – not least the full-throttle, fiddle-fuelled hoedown 'Papa Henry's Boy' and the lovely, tears-in-beers melancholy of 'I Never Meant To Make You Cry' – but there's also room for breathy, romantic balladry ('Face to Face') and straight-down-the-line autobiography on 'Sending Out A Message' where Bentall admits “I've always been a troubadour, doing what I do.”

Then there's the hard to pigeon-hole stuff and it's probably the best of all. To this end, try 'She Ran Away ' on for size. It's an atmospheric manoeuvre doused in heartache and just a hint of Daniel Lanois. Then there's the title track. It starts out as a heartfelt tribute to the inherent beauty of Bentall's adopted British Columbia homeland, but when the band step out of the shadows, they transform it into a sonic workout of epic proportions. Neither are necessarily what you'd expect from a broadly Roots-related album, but they're both good examples of both the ambition and realisation going down here.

Barney Bentall, then, is well worth checking out. He writes resonant songs of hope, love and loss which connect thousands of miles away from the wide open spaces of his enigmatic Canadian homeland. 'The Inside Passage' charts some quite beautiful waters you ought to traverse at your earliest convenience.