A fixture on international stages for decades, singer Micah Barnes has done it all and in the process, driven many miles.
By Carter Hammett
While living in Venice Beach California in 1977, a friend dying of cancer handed singer Micah Barnes the keys to his half-ton Ford pick up truck. “It’s yours,” he said. Essentially a jazz singer, the truck made Barnes go against type and lent a blue collar vibe to his cabaret stylings. Although “Steve’s purple heart license plate got me a lot of love from strangers.
“I learned how to drive at 30 so I could drive in L.A.,” he says.
Barnes smiles fondly at the memory, immediately recalling another tale of that same pickup truck that got stuck atop an Arizona mountain during a torrential snowstorm.
“Hippy prayers and Steve watching over got me out of that predicament,” he laughs.
Indeed, there have been many adventures Barnes, 65, has experienced both on- and- off the road. The son of noted composer Milton Barnes and writer Lilly Barnes–who was a script writer for beloved children’s show Mr. Dress Up–Barnes has literally had art genetically encoded into his DNA.
Perhaps best known as a member of the A Capella singing group The Nylons, of which he was a member from 1990-1996, Barnes has also had turns as a dance club artist with a number 1 Billboard hit, “Welcome to My Head” in 2003. He’s acted in TV shows like E.N.G. and Katts and Dog and also works as an in-demand vocal coach for wide variety of shows. Most recently he’s returned to his jazz roots in a series of acclaimed performances and recordings, including Vegas Breeze, which perched atop the Jazz Charts upon release in 2020.
His various incarnations have placed him on the road, often in limos, often driving himself.
“Lots of musicians have romantic associations on the road,” he says, “you take lots of internal journeys on the road too.
“When you’re unhooked you’re not answering to anyone; you only have yourself and lots of time for self-reflection,” he says. “Things come up: ‘Am I happy? What do I want?
“The motion of passing landscape creates lots of soul searching,” he says. I use the time to write lyrics and it offers the opportunity to express the deepest truths in music. It also gives me time to reflect on my personal life: wants, dreams; there’s lots of thinking and turning over events in my life.”
These days Barnes is back on tour with a show, Up on the Roof, that tells his story as a 12-year-old singing jazz standards through a journey of self-acceptance that includes highlights from his stint with The Nylons. It doesn’t shy away from some of the challenges either, including the death of one of his partners. The show will take him from Calgary to Charlottetown P.E.I. this summer.
He’s also working on an as-yet untitled new album that pays tribute to the soul artists he grew up listening to, including Aretha Franklin, Al Green, Marvin Gaye and others. The album is slated for a 2027 release.
“I’m a very gregarious person., When I have enforced isolation it serves me well–I’m not lonely–if you want a healthy artist you need periods of self-examination.”
For more info or to get tickets, visit micahbarnes.com