Barbaro — named after the beloved, tragically euthanized Kentucky Derby champion horse — recorded About the Winter during the winter of 2022 with Brian Joseph (Bon Iver, Sufjan Stevens, yMusic) at his The Hive studio, a refurbished barn outside of Eau Claire, Wisconsin. Joseph played a pivotal role in the album, engineering, mixing, and co-producing the album with Shelstad. As the band cites electronic musician Jon Hopkins as a particular influence, Joseph helped them craft a distinctive, enveloping sonic landscape that combined their acoustic instruments with a rich bed of synthetic sound.
Shelstad founded Babaro as a duo in 2017 alongside Isaac Sammis, who, before departing the band after the birth of his second child, played on the sessions for About the Winter. Calvert joined at the end of 2017, and, after some shuffling of musicians, Wells arrived in early 2019. Although coming from an almost exclusively classical music background, Wells was intrigued by what he heard in Barbaro and was sold immediately after his first gig with them. Calvert, who also comes from a classical background, likens the band’s approach, through the song dynamics and their musical interactions, to playing in a classical quartet. Using their individual backgrounds they have now created their unique and progressive sound.
SOURCE: Official Bio
LINKS:
https://www.barbaroband.com/
https://barbaro.bandcamp.com/
https://www.instagram.com/barbaro_band/