Danny Barnes is one of those wonderfully offbeat musicians that never seems to disappoint with his ever-varying sense of style and music. As the driving force behind the Austin-based band Bad Livers, he established himself as a unique and important artist.

Since then, he has introduced his wildly creative “FolkTronics” project, which incorporates digital technology and effects pedals to stretch the tonal range of his “weapon of choice,” the banjo, and has given us several excellent albums of quirky bluegrass/folk music.

Now, Barnes has outdone himself with his new collection of songs called “Pizza Box.” “I was just trying to create the best batch of songs I could come up with,” he explains. “I worked on them for about three years and I didn’t really have an outlet for it.”

Barnes found an ally in longtime friend Dave Matthews, who, in addition to being an international music superstar, is co-founder of ATO Records. Barnes and Matthews regularly got together to sit around and play their new songs for each other, and Barnes was invited to play on Matthews’ 2009 release “Big Whiskey and the Groo Grux King” as well as open for the band at several tour dates.

This led to Matthews lending his vocal talents to several tunes for the new album, contributing the artwork for the album cover, and a deal with ATO to release it. The record is without a doubt one of the strongest collections of songs yet from the talented Barnes, who sings with great confidence and his trademark sense of self-deprecating humor. Opening with “Caveman,” a strong single with Matthews’ recognizable voice providing backup, the upbeat tone of the album is set.

Future classics “Sleep,” “TSA,” “Overdue,” and “Sparta TN” are just a few of the highlights of this fabulously entertaining album, to which I give my highest recommendation.

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