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Artist: Barton Carroll
Track: Certain Circles
This track is available on 
Who is Barton Carroll?
A songwriter and plumber from Seattle.
Why do you create?
For the same reason that most people create: to deny death.
I’ve been hounding my band manager friend to take me on tour for years, so far without luck. You’ve been out on the road before: what do you love about it, and what do you hate?
Playing shows is the best and worst part. When it goes well, you are reminded why you do it. When it doesn’t go well, you want to crawl in a hole and quit forever. And it doesn’t really matter how many people are there. I’ve had great fun playing to five people, and I’ve felt like a nuisance to an audience of 1,000 who could care less who the opener is, they just want to hear the headliner play their radio hit. I know it’s my ego talking, and I’ve been trying to get over it ever since I started playing as a teenager. But it can be really bleak out there, man.
you recorded your previous album in 2001, but it wasn’t until 2005 that a record company released it. How did that extended interval between creation and dissemination of your art effect you?
It was a strange sensation to get out in public and try to “sell” a record that [was] half a decade old. It was as if the songs were written by some other person. It was fun to rediscover some of them (and realize that they weren’t all as bad as I had thought.) But it was also really frustrating to have a new album that I was psyched on but couldn’t share.
If music wasn’t an option, what other art form might you use for creative expression, and what would you do with it?
I studied creative writing in college, and I’ve always been interested in the writing of any art form: music, literature, film, etc. I think that’s why I’m such a fan of lyrics, and I tend to enjoy films that are heavier on the dialogue rather than the action.
So I think I would like to write. But I’m not sure what I would “do” with it. Same as music, I guess… try to figure out what my problem is.
If you would like to share your creativity, or you’d like to suggest someone for Required Listening, please send an e-mail to share@yorkrules.com.
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