The Barley Boys play high-energy, original, traditional, and contemporary Irish music. They have taken their live performances from the local pub scence to the festival stages across the US, reaching a new presence in the Celtic music scence. Based in New Jersey, they have quickly become a favorite in Irish and Celtic festivals up and down the East Coast.
Michael Babick, founder, lead singer, songwriter, and lead guitarist, has been a professional musician for over 25 years. New band members with exceptional talent bring years of experience and a fire to the band, giving Michael the satisfaction of hearing the music the way he always dreamed. The individual talents of The Barley Boys powerful drums, melodic bass, high energy fiddle and innovative guitars all join together with impressive vocals to produce a new, exciting sound they call their own.
Collectively, these extremely gifted musicians have shared the stage and opened for such renowned and diverse performers as B.B. King, Joni Mitchell, The Moody Blues, Blue Oyster Cult, Johnny Winter, Foghat, Dave Mason, Robert Plant/Jimmy Page, Smokey Robinson, Joan Jett, America, and Pavarottii, to name but a few.
The Barley Boys are:
Michael Babick, Founder, singer, songwriter, storyteller, lead guitar & vocals
Orest "Arty" Artymiw, Fiddler, background vocals
Mike Kurman, Bass, background vocals
Andy Meyer, Drummer, background vocals
The Barley Boys have released 4 CD's to date: "It's a Long Drive from Ireland!" in 2000 and "The Days of Abundance" in 2005. Their third CD, "No More Shenanigans" was released in March of 2007. A compilation CD with bonus tracks, "Wake Me When It's Over!", was released in 2008 to support "Finnegan's Wake" , a 13 week interactive comedy dinner theatre show that was written around Michael Babick's original songs, and performed at the Showboat Casino in Atlantic City, NJ.
(A hundred thousand welcomes!)
Hello, everyone, and Happy New Year! The Barley Boys are looking forward to a great 2011, and we hope you are too.
We've made a few changes for this year that we're pretty excited about. First, we would like to welcome our new drummer, Andy Meyer, to the Barley Boys family. Andy brings a fresh perspective to the band with his innovative drumming.
We'd also like to welcome our new management team, Kimberly and Steve Johnston. They're already hard at work seeking out new venues for us, including working on a tour of Ireland with our fans (stay tuned for more details). Thanks, guys!
Don't forget, The Barley Boys CD's are now for sale at cdbaby. Just click the link: CD Baby | Search Results
Finally, we know our fans have been waiting for new Barley Boys t-shirts, and we're pleased to annouce that we are currently working on some new designs. We hope to have them available soon--and thank you to everyone for being so patient!
We hope that all of you are as excited about the new changes as we are, and we look forward to seeing you at our shows!
The Barley Boys Trio
Sands Casino, St. James Gate Pub
Bethlehem, PA
Irish Wake Show
Private Event--Wedding
The Barley Boys Trio
Sands Casino, St. James Gate Pub
Bethlehem PA
Lacey Elks Club, Lacey Twp.
The Barley Boys
Parade Day
Belmar Fishing Clib
Belmar, NJ
The Barley Boys
Bill's Olde Tavern
Trenton, NJ
2--6 pm
The Barley Boys Duo
Bill's Olde Tavern
Trenton, NJ
The Barley Boys Trio
Sands Casino, St. James Gate Pub
Bethlehem PA
Irish Wake--Barley Style!
Tuckerton Beach Grill
Tuckerton, NJ
Sands Casino
Bethlehem, PA
Lacey Elks Club
Lacey Twp, NJ
The Barley Boys Trio
Sands Casino, St. James Gate Pub
Bethlehem PA
Lacey Elks Club
Lacey Twp, NJ
Tuckerton Seaport
Details TBA
Tuckerton Seaport
Details TBA
Sands Casino
Bethlehem, PA
Alpha, NJ
100 Year Celebration
Details TBA
Warminster Recreation and Education Center
1101 Little Lane
Warminster, PA 18974
Sands Casino
Bethlehem PA
Private Event
Das Awkscht Fescht
Macungie, PA
Time TBA
Sands Casino
Bethlehem, PA
Tuckerton Beach Grill
Tuckerton NJ
Time TBA
Sands Casino
Bethlehem, PA
Irish Wake Show
Murphy's Loft
Poconos, NJ
All Day
Sands Casino
Bethlehem, PA
Sands Casino
Bethlehem PA
Sands Casino
Bethlehem PA