She couldn’t have known it at the time, but those long hours slogging through philosophy texts would prove integral to Jill Barber’s musical career.
The Vancouver-based chanteuse – whose repertoire over the past couple of decades has ranged from folk-pop, vocal jazz, and classic chansons to the thoughtful, stripped-down singer/songwriter compositions on her latest album, Homemaker – says her honours degree in philosophy at Queen’s was a labour of love that also left space for her overriding goal: to be a musician. When not writing essays and weighing the merits of ancient and modern thought, she pursued her “side gig learning to be a musician and a songwriter and getting out and playing all the coffee houses and places I could.”
After graduating in 2002, she planted trees in northern Alberta for the summer, then followed a love interest to Halifax, landing a job as an accounting clerk. The months rolled by, and Ms. Barber started getting work as a musician. Much to her parents’ chagrin, she cashed some Canada Savings Bonds her grandmother had given her, packed in her office position – “not only was I not good at the job, I didn’t want the job” – and threw herself into music.
“I’ve been working as a professional musician ever since,” she says. “Music has carried me to far-flung places: Japan, Australia, Mexico. I recently went to the Middle East for the first time. Back and forth across this big, beautiful country… My big takeaway is we’re all mostly just about the same.”
“Music has carried me to far-flung places: Japan, Australia, Mexico. I recently went to the Middle East for the first time. Back and forth across this big, beautiful country… My big takeaway is we’re all mostly just about the same.”
Ms. Barber has released 11 albums – one with her brother and fellow musician, Matthew Barber, Artsci’99 – netting her three Juno Award nominations, an East Coast Music Awards trophy, and other honours. The native of Port Credit, Ont., attributes the diversity of her music on those albums to a “project-oriented” approach to her craft and a natural desire to cleanse her artistic palate.
She also draws a clear line from her long-ago studies in philosophy to her song writing today.
As a student, Ms. Barber says, “I was really into ethics and critical thinking… I think in my music I lead with my heart and my emotions, but I believe my intellect informs my areas of interest in what I write about. To be a great philosopher, you have to be empathetic, imagine what it feels like to be someone other than yourself. And, many times, I’ve attempted to put myself in someone else’s shoes as a songwriter.”
Her new album, released earlier this year, is a particularly fine example of Ms. Barber’s ability to cast an objective eye on her personal experience, calling on a blend of logic and emotion to yield observations about motherhood, marriage, and identity that are at once intimate and universal. Much of the album reflects the turmoil she experienced during the pandemic, when she abruptly found herself at home with two young children and without the audiences that are part of any performer’s connective tissue. She eventually worked her way through the artistic isolation, realizing the extraordinary value of creating a home for others while nurturing oneself.
Looking ahead, Ms. Barber – an optimist despite the yearning that underpins so much of her music – says she’s maybe halfway through her career and, now that she’s performing live again, looking forward to the next half. “If I have faith in anything, it’s the power of live music.”
