Rebecca Barnard (born December 1960) is a Melbourne-based Australian singer, songwriter and musician. She was the lead singer of Rebecca's Empire from 1994 to 2000, and has forged a solo career since her debut album was released in 2006.
Barnard grew up listening to Gladys Moncrieff, Fats Waller, Pinetop Smith, Billie Holiday and Louis Armstrong. At 14, she became acquainted with Joni Mitchell and Bob Dylan. Rebecca Barnard is the daughter of the late Australian jazz drummer, Len Barnard (once a member of the jazz band, Galapagos Duck).
Barnard featured in the following Australian bands The Escalators (1982-1984), Black Coffee (and the Beans) (1985), Wayback 5 (1986), Romance Without Finance, Peaceful Anticipation Social Aid and Pleasure Club (1990), Stephen Cummings Band (1986 and 1990-91), Triple Peaks (1991), and the Rebecca Barnard Band (1992).
When songwriting became a focus, she founded the band Rebecca’s Empire. The band toured extensively, releasing three EPs and two albums and appeared on the Triple J Hottest 100 albums three years in a row.[1] At this height of popularity, Barnard had her own cooking segment on Triple J called Pot of Rock.
Rebecca’s Empire disbanded in 2000 when the duties of being a mother took priority (Barnard gave birth to a son in 1996). During this time, Barnard appeared on recordings by Paul Kelly, Tim Rogers, Renée Geyer, Deborah Conway, The Meanies, Warped and The Audreys.
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She has recorded two solo albums, namely Fortified (2006)[2] and Everlasting (2010). Barnard is known for her personal and heartfelt lyrics.[3] Both her albums are on her own record label, Ladybird and distributed by Shock Records.
Fortified was co-produced by Barnard and her then partner, Shane O'Mara, and recorded at their home studio Yikesville. Fortified featured various Melbourne musicians such as Lisa Miller (backing vocals), Tim Rogers (backing vocals), Peter Jones (drums), Michael Barker of the John Butler Trio (drums) and Snout’s Ross McLennan (bass). The album contains tracks penned by Barnard and co-writers including Dr. Rosemary Milne, the person that created the lyrics to the theme of Play School, on the song called I Hurt (a track about the dark side of love). Fortified features one cover song, the Bob Dylan song Boots of Spanish Leather. The album is lead with the exuberant track, Keep Smiling - a song that deals with a long-standing relationship (either family or a friend) and the feeling of being so close, disassociated, and feeling out of control as you get older ("who would have guessed, we would be such a mess...down the track").
The emotive Everlasting was recorded in New York (at Tony Bennett's studio) during a two-week stint of recording in 2008, with the help of jazz pianist Barney McAll, a long-time friend of Barnard and the first album without the assistance of Shane O'Mara. Rebecca Barnard co-produced this album with Barney McAll, which deals with issues of loss and love. The track Everlasting deals with the death of her father, jazz musician, Len Barnard. Everlasting includes some mature pop songs infused with jazz, such as Born In A Shirt (a Russian metaphor for being born lucky).[4] The tracks were all written by Barnard, except the track Seasong which is cover of a track by Robert Wyatt. The album has been predominately promoted by Barnard herself due to the lack of a promotional budget.[5] Everlasting was made with the assistance of a VicARTS grant. Rebecca has said "How incredible that we live in a society, where most of us are to be free to be. The government giving a 49 year old woman money to write and record music. There are thousands of women out there deserving of this. Women that struggle with the constant dilemma of creativity versus motherhood, hormonal weirdness, ageing parents, trying to be everything to everyone."[6] The album has received favourable reviews[7], and has deserved greater success, but it has suffered due to the restricted promotional budget.
Rebecca Barnard is known for her warm personality and humour, and she couples this with her emotive performances. She tours frequently (particularly in Melbourne), but also takes part in various festivals and gigs throughout Australia.
Rebecca Barnard has appeared on RocKwiz (an Australian music focussed TV show) in 2005, 2006 and 2009. She has also appeared on another music orientated music quiz show, Spicks and Specks in 2009. In 1998, Barnard appeared on the Good News Week show, hosted by Paul McDermott.
Barnard has been a much loved figure of the Melbourne music community, where she runs songwriting workshops for girls in the Melbourne western suburbs.[8]
She is a founding member of the Mirabel Foundation, which works to assist children who have been orphaned and abandoned due to parental drug use.[9]
| Album | Release Date | Catalogue Number | Producer | AUS (ARIA) Chart |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fortified | April 3, 2006 | LADYBIRD1 | Rebecca Barnard & Shane O'Mara | - |
| Everlasting | May 7, 2010 | LADYBIRD2 | Rebecca Barnard & Barney McAll | - |
| Album | Year | Record Company and Catalogue Number | Producer | AUS (ARIA) Chart |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Way of All Things | 1996 | Eternity Recordings/Polydor (Australia) 5279802 | Shane O'Mara | - |
| Welcome | 1999 | Festival B0000506O4 | Shane O'Mara | - |
Rebecca has appeared on the following artists/various albums: