10 Questions with ... Warren Barfield

NAME:Warren Barfield TITLE:Musician WEB:www.warrenbarfield.com

Label:
Essential Records

Discography:
Worth Fighting For (2008)
Reach (2006)
Warren Barfield (2003)

1) Can you offer a brief rundown of your career?

I started playing and singing when I was a child in church and started writing when I was 15. After singing some of my songs at my church and at school, I started receiving invitations to perform at area churches. By the time I was 18, word of mouth kept me booked on the weekends. After a year in college, I decided to give the full-time traveling artist thing a try. I spent five years traveling the country, booking my own shows, selling the CDs I made out of my trunk. A record label in Nashville heard one of those CDs and offered me a record deal. The first single on that record topped the charts and opened a lot of doors for me. I've toured and shared the stage with some of the artists that inspired me in the beginning: Third Day, tobyMac, Steven Curtis Chapman, etc. Not to mention the producers, musicians and writers I've been blessed to work with. I've come a long way since my days living out of my car, but it's still basically the same thing. I sing about what I believe.

2) What is the story behind the single "Love Is Not a Fight"?

It was inspired by the fact that no matter how much you love someone, you will have hard times, times when it would be a lot easier to walk away. If you love someone, you will fight for them. This song is for my wife; to me she is something worth fighting for.

3) Is there a specific idea that you want to communicate through the new album as a whole?

I hope the album encourages people to prioritize their lives. I hope it makes them ask the question, "Do we spend as much time investing in our relationships with our spouses, our families, our friends and our God as we do investing in our houses, cars, careers and retirement plans?" Make a list of the things that you believe are worth fighting for. Wake up everyday and fight for what's important.

4) Does a songwriter have to be a good people watcher?

Yes, I think a great songwriter is always aware of what's going on around them. A friend told me once that a great songwriter must climb a mountain, look over to the other side, then come back and tell everyone what he saw.

5) Any interesting or funny stories from radio station visits that you can share with us?

I was visiting a radio station recently when the on-air guy asked me to sign a black guitar they were going to give a way. He had one of those silver paint Sharpies in his hand, stood up to shake it, and shook silver liquid all over my face and clothes. That was fun for everyone.

6) Which do you enjoy more the process or the performance?

I enjoy the performance most because that is when I'm able to interact with the audience. The whole purpose of writing or recording is to have an opportunity to connect with a person who listens to my music.

7) What's your favorite song to perform live?

Right now it's my new single, "Love is Not a Fight." It always gets such an amazing response from people. It is an awesome thing to have a song that without a doubt connects with people who listen to it.

8) How do you know when you've written a good song? What or who is your barometer?

I guess I really know it's a good song a couple of years after it's written. If people are still walking into one of my shows requesting songs that I wrote two or three years ago, then I know the song has become more than just my song. It is their song.

9) Was there a moment in the studio that you stopped and said, "Ah ha! Now we have a record"?

I don't think so. To me it's not done till it's done. Now there were a couple of songs that we recorded and then stood back and said, "Ah ha! Now they don't belong." Making a record to me is having lots of ideas then editing out the bad ones.

10) Imagine life without music. What might you be doing?

Sitting around with a bunch of other miserable people wishing we had something to listen to.

1) Who would be a dream artist to record with (any genre)?

James Taylor

2) What is your favorite city to visit?

Chicago

3) What is your favorite road meal?

Anything from the always-delicious Cracker Barrel

4) Do you have any musical guilty pleasures?

Michael Bolton, but don't tell anyone.