Joe Baker and his Barefoot Brakemen are a Portland, OR based 
honky-tonk act that combines old-time country with early blues 
and hot jazz.  Live and on recordings, they mix original songs with 
their seemingly limitless interpretations of classic material from 
mostly the 1920s-50s.


 *NEWS FLASH*


"Shook, Broke, Hung" the debut CD by Joe Baker and his Barefoot
Brakemen, will be released on April 1st by Alonzo Records.


The CD was recorded and mixed in 3 days in early November 2007, 
by Mike Coykendall at his Blue Room Studios, Portland, OR.


Recorded onto 1" tape and mixed in mono, the bulk of "Shook, Broke, 
Hung" was done as a live 5-piece band in one room with no amplifiers, 
all in one day. Instrumentation consisted of steel-string acoustic guitar 
(Joe Baker), mandolin and tenor banjo (Christen Hubbard), drums 
(Sean Oldham), upright bass (Jim Delaney) and on all but three songs, 
piano (Joey Prather). The following day David Goldstein was brought 
in to add some fiddle to a few songs. Joe then added some steel guitar 
and then all of the vocals were completed. On the third day it was all 
mixed. The result is an inspired collection of songs that showcase each 
player as they take on five Baker originals (three bluesy honky-tonk 
weepers, "Why Are You Doing This To Me", "Wiping Back These 
Tears", and "Wasnt That Nice", the ragtimey, "Owyhee River Home" 
and the hillbilly-boogie instrumental, "Bakers Boogie"), as well as 
renditions of songs by the likes of The Delmore Brothers ("Gonna Lay 
Down My Old Guitar"), Lefty Frizzell (You Want Everything But Me"), 
Peggy Lee (I'm Gonna Go Fishin'"), Porter Wagoner ("A Satisfied 
Mind") as well as two Dixieland jazz standards ("Please Don't Talk 
About Me When I'm Gone" and the instrumental "China Boy").

 
As opposed to the ever-popular "two years in the making" album that 
seems to be the status quo on New Release charts, Joe Baker and his 
Barefoot Brakemen have taken a different approach. They've avoided 
the sterile, meticulous sounds of current popular music by sticking to 
older style material, where melody, lyrics, beat and instrumental 
prowess were all equally important, and by playing as a LIVE band. 
On "Shook, Broke, Hung", Joe's relaxed, charming vocal delivery and 
fine guitar playing is complimented by Christen Hubbard's virtuosic 
mandolin playing (on one of the songs he plays the tenor banjo plus 
adds a 2nd vocal), Sean Oldham's tasteful drumming, Jim Delaney's 
commanding upright bass, and Joey Prather's expert piano playing. 
Lively and raw, "Shook, Broke, Hung" is sure to bring the attention of 
Joe Baker and his Barefoot Brakemen to fans of honest country, jazz, 
and blues, the world over.