Jill Barber Spreads Her Talent To Film, But Still Focuses On Music

Apparently Brian Borcherdt isn't the only person dumbstruck by Jill Barber. The Halifax-based songbird made her on-screen debut at this year's Atlantic Film Festival in director Tara Thorne's short film about adoration, I Said The Loud Part Quiet And The Quiet Part Loud.

"It's a very whimsical short film," says Barber, over coffee at the bookish Trident Cafe in Halifax. "It was really cool to be a part of it."I don't know how I felt about being Brian's object of affection. I mean, I was acting, you know?"

Barber portrayed Borcherdt's mute all-consuming infatuation, as scenes illustrate the scruffy rocker falling off his chair without any prompting by merely thinking of her. Snippets of Barber's physique frame various shots.

"I did want to write something for Brian, and I was trying to figure out who the girl should be, and I knew it would just be chunks of her," says Thorne. "Then I thought, is that anti-feminist? You know, like Hustler or something, where they cut the heads off the women?

"Is that bad? I thought, nah, it's not sexualized, it's just arty. Jill was the first person I thought of. She has a really great face and she dresses very nicely. She's not trendy, but she always looks really great."

When the gussied up canary isn't meddling the realm of film or metaphorically breaking hearts, she's counting her lucky stars. Barber is about to release her first-full length album, For All Time, through Dependent Music/Baudelaire. The record dips into the antique collection of universal themes such as love both lost and found.

Her dreamy imagery and evolving musicianship is illuminated with appearances by Blue Rodeo's Jim Cuddy and Bazil Donovan, as well as Luke Doucet, Spencer Evans (Sarah Harmer) and her brother, Matthew Barber.

"When Jim walked into the studio, it was the first time I had ever met him," says Barber. "He's an extremely charming and handsome man.

"And to have the voice that is so familiar sing my song 'Don't Go Easy' was really cool."

For All Time is reminiscent of leafing through an old family photo album. Each song is a portrait of poetic sentiment, unrequited dreams and the imprint of memories of days gone by.

"There are a lot of temporal themes on the album," Barber explains. "Ultimately, I'm most inspired by songs that for one reason or another have stood the test of time.

"It's hard to say this without sounding too pretentious, but I feel what really makes a good song is its life span and, 'Will it stand the test of time?'"

By combing her natural leaning towards the past with seemingly quixotic lyrical musings, Barber has crafted an album that should be heard through an antique gramophone. Visions of hot air balloons, Victorian postcards, ballroom dancing and a dusty, well-worn Victrola rise from the ashes of her old world sound.

"Legacy is really just about trying to leave a mark in your lifetime," she says. "There is another song called 'Ashes To Ashes' I wrote when my grandmother died, and at the heart of that song is that I think my grandmother left a legacy behind, even though she wasn't famous or maybe she didn't make a huge contribution to society."

Barber's elegant melodies and mesmerizing vocals are daydreamy, as she has the ability to blow whimsical, romantic sentiments through your speakers without being too dewy or fairytale-like. In the same instance she reminds her listeners of the importance or possibility of believing in happy endings.

Here are Barber's tour dates:

Sept. 30 Halifax, NS @ St. Matthew's United Church
Oct. 5 Toronto, ON @ The Drake Hotel
Nov. 9 Wolfville, NS @ The Al Whittle Theatre
Nov. 17 Fredericton, NB @ Charlotte St. Arts Centre
Nov. 18-19 Rothesay, NB @ Session's Cafe
Nov. 23 Kingston, ON @ The Grad Club
Nov. 25 Montreal, QC @ Theatre Outremont w/Ron Sexsmith
Dec. 1 Vancouver, BC @ Vancouver East Cultural Centre w/Ron Sexsmith
Dec. 2 Vancouver, BC @ Vancouver East Cultural Centre w/Ron Sexsmith
Dec. 3 Duncan, BC @ Cowichan Theatre w/Ron Sexsmith
Dec. 4 Victoria, BC @ Alix Goolden Performance Hall w/Ron Sexsmith
Dec. 6 Calgary, AB @ Grand Theatre w/Ron Sexsmith
Dec. 7 Edmonton, AB @ Horowitz Theatre w/Ron Sexsmith
Dec. 8 Saskatoon, SK @ Broadway Theatre w/Ron Sexsmith
Dec. 9 Winnipeg, MB @ Burton Cummings Theatre w/Ron Sexsmith