Bobby Bare Jr.

In 1974, when Bobby was only eight, he and his father were both nominated for a Grammy for the song "Daddy What If", which was written by Shel Silverstein.[8] Bare's daughter Isabella did a version of the song,[9] which was featured on Twistable Turnable Man, a tribute album to Shel Silverstein which was co-produced by Bare and his father. He and his siblings also appeared on the TV show Hee Haw when he was a kid, to provide the witch scream on Bobby Bare, Sr.'s song "Marie Laveau".[5]
He began playing guitar and songwriting, and started as a professional musician when he was about 30.[10] Bare has said that he is someone who avoided "working a real job at any cost." He worked as a member of the road crew and as a light technician. Once he started writing and performing, he was offered contracts with Immortal Records and Lost Highway.[11]
Bare Jr.
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In the 1990s, he led the roots rock outfit Bare Jr., which was signed to Immortal Records, at that time the home of Korn and Incubus.[12] They released two major label records, 1998's Boo-Tay and 2000's Brainwasher.[13] They had a minor radio hit with "You Blew Me Off," which was featured in the movie Cruel Intentions and its soundtrack. The song was also performed on Late Night with Conan O'Brien on March 3, 1999.[14]
Young Criminals Starvation League
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He has performed with his band, the Young Criminals Starvation League, an ever-changing group of musicians, including members of Lambchop, ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead, and My Morning Jacket. They have released three studio albums, an EP, and a live album.
Solo work
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Bobby Bare Jr.
Ballard Seafood Fest 2013
His CD, Storm – A Tree – My Mother's Head, was self-released through Bare's licensing company, 30 Tigers/Naked Albino Recordings, in 2010. The title of the record was inspired by a January 2008 storm in Nashville that injured his mother. "Mom was sitting on the couch, the last day of January in 2008, and there was a big, windy storm outside. And a big branch broke off halfway up the tree. It fell on the house, and literally split the house in two and landed exactly on top of her."[15] Another song on the record, "The Sky Is The Ground," is about a bicycle accident his son had when he was two.[11]
Bare regularly performs in house concerts,[16] often accompanied by the vocals of singer Carey Kotsionis.[17]
Shame on Me, a 2-song 7-inch vinyl record will be released by Big Legal Mess/Fat Possum Records in early 2014.
Spring 2014 saw the release of a new record on Bloodshot Records called Undefeated, and will feature a full band.[18] The first single off the record, "The Big Time," was released as a preview before the official April 15 record launch.[19] Bare recorded the album with Mark Nevers (Lambchop) and Grammy-winning engineer Vance Powell (Jack White, Alicia Keys, the Dixie Chicks, Buddy Guy).[20]
On the theme of the album: Bare "wrote the album about the end of his relationship with the mother of his youngest child, who is 3. The 10 rootsy Americana-style rock songs are at once poignant and shot through with mordant wit, which Bare said is a coping mechanism." Bare opened for Guided By Voices in June 2014.[20]
With Guided by Voices
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In February 2016, Bare joined a new touring lineup of Robert Pollard's band, Guided by Voices, as guitarist along with Doug Gillard also on guitar, bassist Mark Shue and drummer Kevin March.[21][22] Bare played guitar on Guided by Voices albums August by Cake (2017), How Do You Spell Heaven (2017), Space Gun (2018), Zeppelin Over China (2019), Warp and Woof (2019), Sweating the Plague (2019), Surrender Your Poppy Fields (2020), Mirrored Aztec (2020), Styles We Paid For (2020), Earth Man Blues (2021), It's Not Them. It Couldn't Be Them. It Is Them! (2021), Crystal Nuns Cathedral (2022), Tremblers And Goggles By Rank (2022), La La Land (2023), and Welshpool Frillies (2023), as well as participating in two releases by a GBV alter-ego, Cub Scout Bowling Pins - Heaven Beats Iowa (2021) and Clang Clang Ho (2021) - as well as several releases by another alter-ego, Cash Rivers And The Sinners - She Laughed I left (2017), Blue Balls Lincoln (2018), Do Not Try To Adjust Your Set (2018 - featuring a cameo from Bobby Bare Sr), Loose Shoes (2019), and Bad Side Of The Coin (2020).