Canadian rocker Barney Bentall is making his way to the Brackendale Art Gallery on Oct. 24 to perform some old hits along with some new music from his upcoming album Gift Horse.
"It's different because it has been six years since my last record," Bentall said. "It reflects getting older in a positive sense."
His previous album he played with a band, but Gift Horse is a smaller production.
"This is just a little more introspective," he said.
The album focuses on topics like home, family and the ties that bind, and calls to mind artists like Gram Parsons, Neil Young and Bruce Cockburn.
Bentall didn't want to say too much about the new album, or what the title Gift Horse meant. He's leaving it up to the listeners.
"They'll figure out their own interpretation," he said.
He walked away from his major label contract in 1997, and has been working on his cattle ranch in the B.C. Interior. In preparation for the new album, he is touring B.C. and Ontario.
Bentall has played at the Brackendale Art Gallery in the past and looked forward to returning because of the atmosphere and mood of the place.
"It has a medieval sort of atmosphere," he said. "It's just like an antiquated Shakespearean theatre."
The smaller audience at the art gallery gives more opportunity for Bentall to connect.
"It becomes an interactive thing with the audience," Bentall said. "There's moments where you're connected with a song. That's what you're trying to achieve."
And he is there to put on a good show.
"It's a smaller intimate venue, but people are still paying hard earned money to see you."
He will be performing with John Ellis, a Vancouver artists with a variety of instrumental talents. Ellis also produced the new album, which features members of Blue Rodeo, and other Vancouver musicians.
Opening the show is fellow Brackendale stalwart Leslie Alexander, whose album Savage Country was the number four most played roots/folk album on CBC's Galaxie Satellite Radio in January 2004.
"Leslie Alexander has made a couple of great records," Bentall said.
Bentall first hit the charts with the Legendary Hearts and a song called Something to Live For.
