Tim Barry

No matter how many times a rocker goes soft, it’s always a little jarring, whether it’s Tom Morello going acoustic with his Nightwatchman project or Recover’s Dan Keyes making electro-pop as Young Love. Also on the list is Tim Barry—frontman of Virginia’s legendary Avail—who has laid down lots of dusky, dusty folk on discs like 2006’s Rivanna Junction and 2008’s Manchester. But Barry’s still a punk at heart: His newest, 28th And Stonewall, finds him big-upping blue-collar fortitude, spinning historical anecdotes about slave uprisings, and decrying consumerism—all with a frank, fiery matter-of-factness that’s still pretty damn hardcore. 

Updated 02/24/2010