Byron House Endorses Barcus-Berry!

July 16, 2010 - PRLog -- Barcus-Berry, a manufacturer of transducer/preamp systems and acoustic-electric violins, is thrilled to announce bassist Byron House as the newest endorser of the Barcus-Berry 3000AE Piezo Buffer Preamp and B3150 Clamp-On Bridge Bass Piezo Transducer with Preamp!

After proudly declaring support and sponsorship of Barcus-Berry, Byron House remarked, "I love the combination of the Barcus-Berry 3150 transducer and 3000A preamp on my upright bass. I've used this system on so many recordings -- it makes a superb complement to the right microphone. It's really punchy and just sounds great!  I'm using it on my old Czech flatback in my current live setup as well. This system simply works. It is straightforward, not a lot of frills, just basic and super-functional."

What do Emmylou Harris, Dolly Parton, Sam Bush, Jerry Douglas and Jorma Kaukonen all have in common? They have all at one time or another sought out the services of Byron House, currently one of Nashville’s—and the country’s—hardest working bass players, both in the studio and on the road. Versatile, tasteful, unique, spontaneous and, most of all, musical—these are the words most commonly used to describe Byron’s bass playing. But it was banjo that first inspired him to seriously pursue a musical career. His musical path got off to an auspicious beginning, when, at age 11, he met and jammed with Sam Bush, who was already a world-class mandolinist and fiddler who had only recently formed the groundbreaking New Grass Revival.

At age 17, after 7 years of honing his banjo chops (he also dabbled in guitar, dulcimer, trumpet, bassoon, percussion, piano and other instruments), Byron switched to bass, after hearing Jaco Pastorius’ revelatory bass work on Weather Report’s Heavy Weather. Other bass players that influenced Byron in his formative years include Paul McCartney, James Jamerson, Phil Lesh, Jack Casady, Ray Brown, Paul Chambers, Junior Huskey and Roy Huskey.

In the mid-1980s, Byron left his hometown of Bowling Green, Ky., and relocated to Nashville, opening up a new universe of musical possibilities. He was soon working steadily with Foster & Lloyd, and his reputation quickly spread through Music City. In addition to Parton, Harris, Kaukonen and Douglas, Byron has performed or recorded with Buddy and Julie Miller, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Linda Ronstadt, Jim Lauderdale, Dixie Chicks, Nickel Creek, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Shelby Lynne, Al Kooper and Grateful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter, to name a few. He was honored with a Grammy nomination in 2005 for his work on Mark O’Connor’s 30-Year Retrospective.

In 1999, almost 30 years after that first jam session with Sam Bush, Byron’s musical career came full-circle, when he began playing in Bush’s prolific touring band. December 2009 found Byron in Woodland Recording Studios, where in the early 1980’s he played one of his first recording sessions in Nashville. Byron’s involvement in the Woodland sessions for Robert Plant’s Band Of Joy project (Rounder release date September 14) happened at the invitation of the great Buddy Miller, Robert’s co-producer/guitar player. Robert chose the name Band Of Joy for his new album and for the band he and Buddy put together, hearkening back to the band Plant and John Bonham were in prior to forming Led Zeppelin.

“It is truly a Band Of Joy with an absolute dream-list of talent,” Byron says. “What a fantastic opportunity! At this moment I can’t imagine any place I’d rather be musically. The gifts of everyone involved are formidable and personally they are simply a delight.” The line-up for Plant’s new band is Miller (vocals/guitar), Patty Griffin (vocals/guitar), Darrell Scott (vocals and multi-instrumental) and Marco Giovino (drums/vocals). Byron is currently touring the southern USA with Robert and the Band of Joy, with European dates scheduled for this fall.

To find out more about Byron House visit his website: http://www.myspace.com/byronhouse

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Barcus-Berry is a quality manufacturer of acoustic-electric violins and inventor of the first piezo transducer preamp system for guitars, pianos, brass and woodwind orchestral instruments, harmonicas, drums, tap floors and more. Since 1963, Barcus-Berry products have been delivering true reproduction of acoustic sound. Barcus-Berry is used and endorsed by professional musicians, bands and dancers such as Ronnie Milsap, Chuck Leavell, Rascal Flatts, Louise Mandrell, The Corrs, Pat Green Band, Clay Walker Band, Tracy Bonham and Broadway performer, Savion Glover. Learn more about Barcus-Berry products and its users at www.barcusberry.com.