Barry D.
Nashville, TN – Acclaimed performer/producer/
A genuine child prodigy with no prior training, Barry D. was eight years old when he began to play worship songs he had never learned for the tiny congregation of Liberty City Church of God of Prophecy. He progressed quickly from lessons, to practice, to rehearsal, to production. Barry D. wrote, performed, produced and distributed his first album before his 14th birthday, before going on to graduate at the top of his class from Florida’s prestigious New World School for the Arts and attending the renowned Berklee School of Music in Boston.
Through it all, it was his mother who taught him the life skills he would need to succeed. "My mother taught me the value of good, old-fashioned hard work," Barry D. declares. "She was a woman raising nine children on her own on a bus driver’s income. We were not well off, to say the least. But she showed me by her own example that all things are possible, that you can do whatever God calls you to do—but it requires hard work."
"With this new album, Born to Play, I’m telling the story of my life—my hardships, my pain, my triumphs and victories," Barry D. relates. "It is a conversation I am having with God, and I am inviting the people who hear the music to enter into that conversation as well. The conversation can take on as many forms as the Spirit wants. When I play the song, ‘I Want To Know What Love Is,’ I’m really telling my story. In this life, I’ve seen heartache and pain. I don’t know if I can face it again. Can’t stop now, I’ve traveled so far to change this lonely life. That’s my story."
On Born to Play, Barry D. has put his own unique twist on the Dove Award-winning Song of the Year, "God of Wonders." "He is holy," Barry D. declares. "When you grasp hold of that truth, you can’t do anything other than just stand in awe of Him and cry, ‘You are holy! You are holy!’ That is my ultimate praise song. The anointing of God was in the room when I recorded it, and even now, when I hear it played back, I just want to fall to my knees and worship."
While Barry D. is not afraid to take other artists’ material and make it uniquely his own, he is just as adept at crafting fresh expressions of worship, ex nihilo. Such was the case with "Fresh Wind," a song he wrote to remind himself of his constant need to live in the moment. "Sometimes I feel like I get stuck on yesterday’s glory, yesterday’s success, even yesterday’s anointing," Barry confesses. "But yesterday is gone. I need a fresh anointing. I need a fresh dose of God’s presence today. I wrote ‘Fresh Wind’ based on that need."
A GMA Dove Award nominee, winner of the gospel category in the prestigious Billboard songwriting contest and a finalist in both the distinguished John Lennon songwriting contest and the 2007 Independent Music Awards, Barry D.’s musical accomplishments have caught the ears of the Smooth Jazz industry as well as the CCM market. His strong chops have afforded the pianist the opportunity to work with many of the up-and-coming jazz giants in New York’s ritzier clubs, but it is his versatility that has captured the attention of some of the biggest names in the industry. Fans will recognize his signature riffs on records by R. Kelly, David Foster, Mario Winans, Anastacia, Donna Summer, Linda Eder, Nothing but the Girl, Changing Faces, Junior Vasquez and Robin S. Barry D. has performed at Carnegie Hall and has shared the stage with such outstanding performers as Phil Collins, Phil Keaggy, Sister Sledge, Natalie Grant, Nicole C. Mullen, Selah, Jaci Velasquez and Anointed. His songs have been recorded by popular recording artists, including gospel legend Marvin Sapp.
Barry D.’s Born To Play will be available on TAQA Records USA, a division of TAQA Entertainment. TAQA Records USA launched in 2001, presenting a unique brand of uncompromising music, an eclectic blend of artists and hit production. For more information on Barry D. and his new album, Born To Play, visit www.taqarecordsusa.com.
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