Kingdom Jasmine waxes poetic on new album 'Local Nobody,' will play intimate show at cosmic venue

Nov. 3—From playing dive bars in New York City to taking stages on the festival circuit, Bob Barrick — frontman of Kingdom Jasmine — remains dedicated to the art of music-making.

"Local Nobody" — the eighth release to feature Barrick's songwriting and the fourth Kingdom Jasmine album — drops Nov. 18. To celebrate, Barrick is throwing an intimate show the same day at Broadway Music Studios, the funky basement recording space where he and bandmembers have tirelessly laid down tracks.

Broadway Music Studios, located at 2401 Broadway St., Boulder, has a cosmic appeal. The UFO-like white building, designed by architect Charles Haertling and built in 1969, houses vintage gear, and its trippy aesthetic is sure to make for a memorable live music experience.

The show starts at 7:30 p.m., tickets are limited and $30 each. The performance will be recorded and filmed by a production crew.

Kingdom Jasmine's latest dozen-song collection is an engaging, eclectic and solid blend of folk, blues and acid rock.

In addition to crafting heartfelt originals, Barrick has a talent for reinterpreting familiar classics.

In 2016, Kingdom Jasmine's cover of John Prine's "Paradise" — based on the version done by bluegrassers The Seldom Scene — went viral, garnering over 2.2 million views.

On "Local Nobody," Canned Heat's "Going Up the Country" — a hippie anthem of the late '60s — is reworked into a track that packs a more psychedelic punch. Slowed down compared to the fast-paced original, it's the zen-like cover we didn't know we needed.

At parts, it almost has a Middle Eastern feel, the result of a 12-stringed guitar in opening tuning that mimics the sound of a sitar.

At times, Barrick's vocal tone is reminiscent of "Right Down the Line" singer Gerry Rafferty, who topped the charts in the '70s. At others, tinges of Cat Stevens, John Denver and James Taylor surface.

There's a certain nostalgic vibe to his delivery, one that provides a similar authenticity and feel akin to Laurel Canyon greats.

Barrick received a degree in poetry from Indiana's Butler University, and given his repertoire of material, it's clear he's using his writing skills today.

On "Nederlander," listeners get a glimpse into an intriguing character study — "Livin' like the king of nowhere/Sendin' funds to friends back home/Makes his money runnin' cocaine/Seldom stunned he's so alone."

"Electric Fog" is a haunting track that captures all the mind-bending flavor of a psychotropic anthem.

There's no question Barrick is a skilled storyteller, building intriguing aural kaleidoscopes of sound.

The song's title track "Local Nobody" draws from blues, while "Gravity Bong" is a perfect ode to the rock of the '90s and early aughts (think Pixies).

We caught up with Barrick to learn more about the upcoming album, the inspiration behind the name Kingdom Jasmine and how it felt to receive unexpected cyber praise from one of his musical heroes.

Kalene McCort: Really enjoying "Local Nobody." What inspired this latest work of yours, and if you had to pick two of your tracks that you are most into right now what would they be and why?

Bob Barrick: In March of 2021, I booked a show at Lost Lake in Denver. It's a great little venue, and I love working with those folks, so I wanted to try my best to sell it out. One of the avenues I took for promotion was a post on the /r/denver subreddit. Someone replied — and I'm paraphrasing here — "$25 to see some local nobody? No thanks!"

When I come across that kind of rejection, I read it as people wanting me to compromise. Put on the twee hat, find a banjo player and do folk music how it's supposed to be done. But at the end of the day, even if I do capitulate to what audiences and promoters want, I'm still just going to be another guy on the street. Why not do whatever the hell I want? My two favorite songs on the record, "Gravity Bong" and "Watercolor World," I think really hammer that sentiment home.

KM: Would you say majoring in poetry helped shape who you are as a songwriter?

BB: I, by no means, think anyone needs a degree in poetry in order to write a great lyric. However, if you're interested in the kind of songwriting I'm interested in, it certainly helps to be aware of the literary movements that came before. Nothing I write sounds like a Shakespearean sonnet, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't rely upon iambic pentameter to create forward momentum.

More than anything, I think my "studies," if you can even call them that, taught me that even the greatest art tends not to be self-serious, topical or anything you might associate with academia. It only tends to be practiced. Poetry was all I did. I spent most of my classes not taking notes but instead listening for interesting language. I spent weekends not looking for a buzz — or studying, for that matter — but instead turning all the bits and pieces I'd written during the week into a poem or song. If I hadn't put that practice to habit back then, I wouldn't write like I do today, for better or worse.

KM: What inspired the name Kingdom Jasmine? Can you let readers in on the origin?

BB: Kingdom Jasmine was a fictional band I'd written into a song that appeared on my first album in 2016. My main collaborator at the time and I moved to Brooklyn, N.Y., after finishing its production and were stuck on what we were going to call ourselves.

There were a couple of ideas bouncing around — Hoosier Club, an inside joke, Lee Garver, a professor of ours, — but I kept coming back to that fictional band, Kingdom Jasmine. One afternoon, we were on a train headed for Coney Island, discussing our options. There was an elderly lady sitting next to us, and I sort of abruptly asked her, "What do you think about Kingdom Jasmine for a band name?" She replied, "It's as good a name as any," and that was that. Since then, Kingdom Jasmine has become a moniker for some, not all, of my songwriting and production endeavors.

KM: I understand Jimmy Buffett shared your cover of his song "The Slow Lane" on social media. How did it feel to get this nod from an artist you admire, and what do you love about Buffett as a songwriter? Any other musicians you credit with influencing you?

BB: I've been going to Buffett concerts since I was a little kid. You might call me a Parrothead. To receive that recognition was everything to me. Any self-doubt I had regarding my abilities or a lack of self-determination went out the window. This was a deeply personal win. Literally, a life goal accomplished. I know he's not for everyone, but JB's music sticks with me because his songwriting doubles as world-building.

The guy has 29 studio albums that all go to develop this sort of legendarium on Margaritaville. And it's not a place full of booze and cheeseburgers like you'd expect. Those things are certainly there, but they cover up a much darker underbelly. Artists like that — Bob Dylan, David Bowie, the list is long — who develop complete universes within their catalog, really appeal to me, and it's their careers I try to emulate.

KM: What can attendees expect from your studio concert? Do you plan to play more shows locally or tour?

BB: The album release concert for "Local Nobody" is going to be unlike any show you catch in Boulder or Denver. We're independently putting it up at Broadway Music Studios, where the record was made and opening it to only a small group of attendees.

Sometimes, a concert can feel like going to the zoo. This one is going to feel more like happening upon an elk in the backcountry. Going forward, we certainly intend to play out more. However, I have my hands in a couple of projects outside of Kingdom Jasmine right now, one of which will be making its debut performance at a certain high-profile event in Boulder next spring. That's all I can say on that for now.