Texas songwriter to play at The Barn

Texas songwriter Sam Baker will perform in concert at The Barn in Sisters on April 6, at 7 p.m. Playing with Baker will be longtime-sideman Chip Dolan, who has toured with him throughout the U.S., Canada, and Europe, providing accompaniment on piano, keyboard, and mandolin.

From small-town beginnings in Itasca, Texas to headlining major music festivals, Sam Baker's music and story have been shared throughout the world by major media outlets including NPR's Fresh Air with Terry Gross, Rolling Stone magazine, and The Wall Street Journal. He is a true artist in every way, sharing amazing life experiences through music, story, and visual art.

He was called the "Bard of the Workaday World" by The Wall Street Journal, and "perhaps the most captivating songwriter in America" by Lone Star magazine. NPR's Robert Christgau describes his music as "simultaneously beautiful and broken ... his is a story that must be told..."

"Life is a gift," Baker says. "Gratitude for what remains is more helpful than resentment for what was lost. Ultimately, I came to understand that these days are wicked short and terribly beautiful. All I've got is this one breath, and if I'm lucky, I get another."

Four albums into a career that was ignited by a tragic event in a foreign land, it is life and its precious value that carries Sam's songs and art into the hearts and minds of his adoring fans.

Baker's story includes surviving devastating injuries from a terrorist bomb on a bus bound for Machu Picchu, Peru in 1986. Most of the passengers were killed, including the German family that he had befriended. His injuries required him to relearn how to walk, move, and speak. Many years and over 15 operations later, the new Sam Baker sees beauty in everything around him and expresses his new-found life every day, sometimes with paint and canvas, a camera, or a guitar and song.

Baker released his first record, "Mercy," in 2004, the first in a trilogy of song paintings with sparse instrumentation and poetic delivery. It was followed by "Pretty World" in 2007, and "Cotton" in 2009. His latest release, "Say Grace," was named one of the Top Ten Country Albums of 2013 by Rolling Stone magazine. Available at the show will be the long-awaited box set, "The Pretty World Trilogy," which includes re-releases of his first three albums, artwork by Sam, and a recording of a 2014 interview by Terry Gross on NPR's Fresh Air.

Suggested donation for the Wednesday, April 6 concert is $20 adult and $10 youth.

The Barn is located at 68467 Three Creek Rd., three-quarters of a mile south of town. Doors will open at 6:30 p.m. For show information call 541-408-0200.