Mitch Barrett at
the Clear Creek
Music Festival
Mitch Barrett
taking a break
from performing
at the Clear Creek
Music Festival and
enjoying the trails.
former where people can hear every story and lyric.
“Supporting the arts doesn’t mean anything unless you
put money in the artist’s pocket so they can continue mak-
ing money,” he said.
Murphy then told Wern that his house would be perfect for
a house concert and convinced him to hold the event there. A
week before the house concert, Barrett won the title of Tellu-
ride Troubadour. At the house concert, there were around 75
people in Wern’s backyard and everything went amazingly.
Wern explained the electric feeling after the show where
they “laughed, juggled and drank whiskey.”
Wern said this show was what got the seed started to grow
“Little Tree Acoustic House Concerts.” The series now hosts
about six to 10 shows a year and Wern said they have just
topped $100,000 dollars in the pockets of musicians.
Wern explained, at one time, he believed he had balance
in his life as a research scientist. But, he said, after 11 years
of around 10 shows per year, he realized that he was wrong.
He had been missing the creative, emotional, artistic part of
his life. That is what Barrett gave to him.
“Barrett started this by showing up and being a ridicu-
lously awesome, talented, truth telling performer,” Wern
said.
Barrett has won many songwriting competitions, such as
the Rocky Mountain Folks Festival in Lyons, Col.; the Mer-
lefest Chris Austin Songwriting Competition (twice award-
ed); and the prestigious Kerrville New Folk Competition.
Barrett describes the music business as a “complicated
thing.” He currently has 5 CDs with the band Zoe Speaks,
which consists of Barrett, Carla Gover, their daughter Zoe
Barrett, and her husband Arlo Barnette. He has two solo
CDs and 1 collaborative CD with Melody Youngblood. All of
these were independently produced.
Barrett may have won many competitions but he has not
forgotten where he came from.
Born just outside Berea, Barrett is glad to have come from
“all of its diversity.” He has spent many years working with
the Kentucky Arts Council in the schools of Appalachia “in-
stilling a pride and sense of place in the hearts of Kentucky
school children.”
Mitch Barrett collaborating with other musicians at
the Little Tree Concert on July 23, 2011
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