Charting the WB
Warren Barfield, that is. We chatted with this talented young singer-songwriter about the creative process—and his sophomore CD, currently due this fall.
by Michael Herman | posted 2/16/2004
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Warren Barfield, a 24-year-old North Carolina native, began playing the guitar at age eight. His family was always involved in leading worship at their church, and Barfield continued to develop in his late teens and early 20s while playing for youth groups and worship events, putting out two independent albums. Now he's signed with Creative Trust Workshop, and his music now reaches a national audience through hit songs like, "My Heart Goes Out." We talked with Barfield about life with a record label, how God continues to develop him, and what we might expect from his new album, due this fall.
What's happening in your life on the music side of things?
Warren BarfieldI've been writing for the next record, playing a few scattered dates, and meeting with A&R people, producers, and other people from the label. Then I start a tour in March with FFH and Big Daddy Weave, then I'll touring with Third Day and tobyMac in April and May.
I'll start recording my second record at the end of May. Hopefully we'll be able to turn that in by late June. Then it's the summer festivals, and hopefully by September I'll be out doing my own tour.
Tell me more about meeting with label people and how that's part of making a new album.
BarfieldI'll meet with Creative Trust Workshop, my label, and I'll play some songs—actually just ideas, themes, that kind of stuff. We'll start talking about producers. There's that whole process of deciding, Who we're going to use? Where we're going to do it at? Will it all be done in Nashville or in L.A.? A lot of the details are first worked out in these meetings—logistical and otherwise.
It's exciting, though. We'll get to see what happens in this new cycle of creativity. We want to try some different and interesting things. We'll dream a little and see how many of those ideas can become reality. We don't want to do the typical thing, but at the same time, it has to be relevant. We don't want to be creative just for the sake of being creative. We'll all throw our thoughts into the discussions. Some of us will be a little more liberal than others, but there are enough conservative people in the office to pull us back to reality when we need it (laughs). That's the good thing about having a team of people around you that you trust. Hopefully the best of everyone's opinions will come together and be able to agree upon one thing and we'll go for it.
What do you like about Creative Trust?
BarfieldCreative Trust Management and Creative Trust Workshop have been involved in the whole recording process, and I'm very grateful for that. There were about 20 people from the office giving input on my first album with the label. I'd write a song, and the next day I'd record it on a MP3 player and burn a CD. They'd all get my demos. Every person's opinion mattered.
Usually I discuss the songs with the A&R guy and the producer—not 25 people! But I liked that. It's such an opinion thing. You give one person too much power—even me as the person who wrote the song—and there will be songs that I'm passionate about. That doesn't mean it's a great song or that it deserves to be on the 10 slots on the CD. I need other people's opinions so we can create an album that's truly the best that it can be.
But there has to be some extra weight on your opinion, because you're going to play those songs for years to come.
BarfieldDefinitely. At the end of the day, it's my decision. I have to want to play it and I have to be passionate about the song. But it'd be foolish to say, This is my decision and it's my song and I don't care if everyone else hates it—I'm gonna have it! I feel that just goes a little far in the wrong direction. There's a reason these people around me are in the positions they're in. Most of them have been doing this longer than I've been alive. So, if I just got arrogant and thought their opinion was way off, I think I'd make a big mistake.
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