Album Notes

Jeff Barbra and Sarah Pirkle have been married (to each other!) for 6 years, and make their home in Walland, TN in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains national park.

PERFORMERS...

Jeff and Sarah play acoustic music seasoned with the distinctive flavors of bluegrass, old time, classic country, and modern folk. The main features of their performance are solid original compositions and harmony vocals. With Jeff on guitar and Sarah on fiddle, the two then combine experienced voices to a create new sound with an old fashioned twist.

Their independent debut album "Dog Years", was released regionally on March 25, 2000. They celebrated with a sold out performance at the historic Palace Theater in Maryville, TN. 2 selections from the album, "The Piney Rose" and "When I Come Home" were released nationally in 2001. They have spent the 3 years since the release of "Dog Years" writing new songs and performing.

SONGWRITERS...

Both have been creating their own tunes since they were children. Recently Sarah discovered a long lost recording of her at age 5, where she made up a song on the spot! Jeff believes he started his songwriting journey began as an early teen when he was inspired by the songs of James Taylor and Merle Haggard. Writing was a hobby that Jeff and Sarah had in common and explored together when they began dating. A lot of those first dates were gigs!

Jeff and Sarah are 1st Place Winners of the Chris Austin Songwriting Contest at Merlefest. They performed their winning song, "When I Come Home" at Merlefest for a crowd of 50,000+. Established recording artists are now taking notice of their songwriting talents. Artists like Terri Hendrix, Rickie Simpkins, Dale Anne Bradley, Ernie Thacker, and others have cut their songs.

Larry Shell with Americana Entertainment in Nashville, TN is actively pitching Jeff & Sarah's songs to other artists.

ON THE RADIO...

They are also the hosts and producers of the "Behind the Barn" concert series, which can be heard on 89.9 WDVX in the East Tennessee area, or streamed live on the web at WDVX.com every Wednesday night from 9pm-10pm EST and features a performance by Jeff and Sarah as well as a different regional or national act every week. Past performers for this show include:

Chris Knight, Larry Cordle, Terri Hendrix & Lloyd Maines, Rod Picott, Walt Wilkins, Danny Barnes, The Greasy Beans, The Steep Canyon Rangers,James King, Dale Anne Bradley, John Cowan, Tony Furtado, The Kruger Brothers, Yonder Mountain String Band, Jon Randall Stewart, Steve Young, Randy Weeks, Duane Jarvis, and many, many more.

It is broadcast live from Barley's Taproom in Knoxville's Old City and will soon celebrate it's 4 year anniversary in May 2003.