Up Front & Honest
Doug Barnett
Label: Indie
Review Date: November 12, 2016

Full disclosure.

Doug Barnett is a very dear friend of mine. We went to high school together, having sung in its Concert Choir and was in the same guitar class. He went on to become an amazing songwriter and guitar player. I – well, here I am writing about his great songwriting and guitar playing.

Doug has been a supporter of Boomerocity.com since its inception. I will also add that he was key in this webzine launching by way of his encouragement for me to write while we were visiting over dinner at an Outback in Seattle.

That all said, please don’t let my obvious bias dissuade you from checking out his latest CD, Up Front and Honest. I wouldn’t steer you wrong: this is arguably the best indie produced and released CD that you can buy this year.

Doug Barnett is who we’d have if a scientist decided to clone John Denver, Jackson Browne, John Mayer, and Jim Croce, creating one solid artist.

Yeah, that’s my friend, Doug Barnett.

Each of the thirteen songs are tunes written from the heart, each telling a story from Barnett’s life or of feelings from the heart. Three randomly chosen tunes to highlight are:

Angels Unaware – This is a song near and dear to my heart. How many of us have had people who “just happened” to come into our lives or who “just happened” to contact us at a time when we really needed encouragement of some sort? This song is about those kinds of people and its title comes from a slight mangling of Hebrews 13:2 from the Bible. This song is worth the price of the entire album.

One More Chance – Knowing that Doug re-connected with his high school sweetheart six years ago, lyrically this song speaks complex volumes in its heartfelt simplicity.

Four Color Ten Inch Tatoo – This song is hysterical and showcases Doug’s amazing way with words in weaving stories that make you laugh, cry, think or forget. This song will make you laugh . . . or cry if you happen to have a tattoo purchased on a whim.

While you’re ordering Up Front & Honest, check out Doug Barnett’s other work on Amazon and iTunes. You’ll love ‘em!