CENTRE STAGE David Barton

Photo courtesy of Write Around the Murray, Albury 2022

At Mildura Writers Festival in 2022 David Barton played grand piano on Drive All Night. At Williamstown Literary Festival that year he played mandolin on That’s Amore. At Port Fairy Literary Weekend last September he played bass, was our sound engineer and provider of the PA!

David Barton’s debut with the Stereo Stories band was delayed by Covid-cancellations in 2020, until our one and only show in 2021, at the Bendigo Writers Festival.

He mostly played bass at that gig but also sang and played guitar on Carmel Bird’s story about Here Comes The Sun.

“He’s a technical wizard, as well as being a wonderful musician,” says band colleague Julie Merritt. “He just does things with no fuss. Low key and off he goes. And when he sings he can channel lots of different styles. He seems to be able to play any instrument, but I’m not letting him near my accordion!”

“I don’t know if he can play the drums,” guitarist Peter Maskell half-jokes, “but he seems to play everything else. And his finger-picking guitar is amazing.”

Cellist Laura Sheridan, also relatively new to the band, noted: “David is musically generous, kind and supportive. And he can dive deep into esoteric music theory.”

Singer Chris Phillips shares most of the band’s vocals with David’s partner Martina Medica: “Nothing’s too much trouble for David. He’s methodical, he’s calm. He’ll adjust, he’ll change. He’ll defer to others in the band at all times. He’s very humble for someone so skilled.”

“David’s very calm under pressure,” says drummer Matt McGrath. “At Port Fairy last September he was effectively the roadie and sound engineer, plus being in the band. But he didn’t get ruffled, even as time was ticking away. He even remembered to bring some coloured lights for the foot of my drumkit.”

He also played on, mixed and produced our Soundcloud recording of Cher Finver’s Innocent Man story, a 2020 lockdown project.

David has written one Stereo Story so far (to be debuted at Queenscliff on Saturday 27 May) and is a central figure in one of Martina’s stories, where he is described as ‘Breadwinner, engineer, teacher, entertainer, chef, cleaner. Carer.’

“I’ve played in a variety of bands with Dave for longer than we’ve been together (over 20 years), and to this day he can still surprise me with his skill, versatility, and the feel with which he plays his instruments,” says Martina Medica.

“He has an incredibly varied and eclectic taste in music, and plays in a diverse range of bands, which I’m sure helps him with the variety of Stereo Stories songs we learn.

“I love seeing how he makes people laugh at rehearsals, and was absolutely thrilled when he wrote his first Stereo Story – yet another thing he seemed to be able to do effortlessly, as he whipped it up in one evening, and when he asked me to edit it I barely had to touch it.”

David Barton with band colleagues Laura Sheridan and Peter Maskell. Backstage, Willy Lit Fest 2022

The Stereo Stories Band’s next two show are at Queenscliff on Saturday 27 May (only a handful of tickets available) and Williamstown on Friday 16 June.