Pizza Box

Pizza Box is the new album by banjo pioneer and visionary Danny Barnes. The lead single at Americana, "Overdue," features familiar background vocals by fan and friend, Dave Matthews, who is a champion of the project and releasing the John Alagia produced album on his label, ATO Records. Known early on for his work with the seminal Austin alternative country band, the Bad Livers, Barnes has developed a profile for himself as one of the most progressive and genre-bending artists of his craft. Throughout the years, Danny has performed with an eclectic group of marquee artists comprising an all star cast that reads like a who's who among varied musical landscapes ranging from bluegrass greats Bela Fleck, Del McCoury, and Sam Bush, newgrass stars Yonder Mountain String band, to Americana artists Robert Earl Keen, Lyle Lovett, and Nickel Creek, to Jam-friendly Government Mule, Leftover Salmon, and Keller Williams, to jazz and blues instrumentalists Bill Frisell, Chuck Leavell, and John Popper, to members of the punk and metal Butthole Surfers, Dead Kennedys, and Ministry. With Pizza Box, Barnes spins tales of American life like a latter-day John Steinbeck, wielding banjo and pen with equal effect, and the character of his voice as the perfect mouthpiece to truly bring these songs and stories to life. Pizza Box comes stuffed with sharp hooks and addictive vocal and instrumental melodies, but it's Barnes skills as a storyteller that shine strong. He tells tales with the wry wit and humor of Garrison Keillor, the lyrical eccentricities and intellect of Randy Newman, performed with the southern twang and swagger of Levon Helm. Barnes combines and blends all of these elements into a style that is uniquely his own.