Collaborations: Chris Barton

In the early 1990s I was performing solo very rarely, but doing lots of freelance and studio work. Several of my collaborations during that time were with popular local children’s music groups: performing, arranging and recording with Gemini, a beloved local folk duo, as well as arranging and performing on two popular albums for the Chenille Sisters, another popular local group now celebrating 30 years together.

I also did lots of different things for SongSisters (Chris Barton and Julie Austin), including artwork, music notation, and live performance as well as arranging, recording and producing their album, Hello Sun, Goodnight Moon. Chris’s songs are an absolute delight, as are the duo’s vocal interpretations. (The discerning ear might even hear me joining in on a couple of the tunes!)

Hello Sun, Goodnight Moon won a 1992 Parents’ Choice award, was very popular locally, and I’m still really proud of it. Unfortunately, the album was the last one to come from the SongSisters duo.

Thankfully, they both stayed involved in music. Chris wrote a couple of musicals for kids after the Hello Sun album came out, and one was called Find a Way. It had some great songs in it, too (no surprise there), and one of them especially captivated me. The effect never wore off, so I convinced her to rerecord “Let‘s Start Over” with me in 2023. We released it as a single then, and I included it on my recent album, Everything I Am.

One thing I love about Chris‘s creations—and her entire approach to life—is her unstoppably positive outlook on things. Not that she hasn’t had her share of trials, disappointments and loss. But even her sad songs always seem to have a positive spin, a warm welcome woven into lyrics and melody (unlike some of mine!). That‘s certainly true of another duet we released in early 2025, “Look Up,” a musical antidote to the depressing political situation we were both so upset about at the time.

Collaboration is a lot of fun, but it‘s also a lot of work! The “Look Up” link outlines the steps we went through to pull off just that one project, if you’re interested in all the gory details (Susie W., that was for you! 😉). But after all the communications and back-and-forth efforts from different musicians in different studios spread out over thousands of miles, I’m happy to say that all involved were very pleased with the finished product—both in that case and all the others, too.

I’ve put together this YouTube playlist featuring some of my favorite Chris collaborations I hope you’ll enjoy. The first one in the collection is very recent, a bittersweet song that marks the sixth year since Bill’s passing, and imagines what she might do given just one more day with him.

We spend lifetimes wondering how we’d manage if our true love passes away before we do—Davey and I talk about it every now and then, how we hope and pray we can “go together.” Could I survive without you? Would I have to move? Could I somehow learn to do the things I now depend on you for? We wonder who would get along better if the other should die, but we both know the answer: neither.