Better Barn Burning Bureau at Porchfest 2014

(Better Barn Burning Bureau playing at Porchfest 2014)

Porchfest 2014 was awesome! What an experience! I was lucky to have a friend who had to attend Porchfest for one of his classes, so we took the TCAT down to the commons and we met up with his professor who showed us around and told us some of the musicians to look for during the day. Unfortunately, we couldn’t stay the full 6 hours, but man, I wish I could have. Every porch that I passed, while walking through the streets of Ithaca, I would stop and listen to the music. All ages – from high schoolers to middle aged couples to old fogies- were making incredible music. My favorite, though, came as a surprise.

At around 12:30, I was standing in front of someone’s garage, listening to a band called Better Barn Burning Bureau, I believe, but I was not exactly listening. I was planning out with my friend where we would walk next because we had been standing and listening to this band for about two songs and we were trying to meet up with another friend. All of a sudden, a familiar tune started to play and I immediately gasped and turned away from my friend to listen and watch the band perform this amazing song. They were playing “It Ain’t Me Babe” a song that I recently discovered was written by Bob Dylan, but have only known the Johnny Cash version up until now. The Better Barn Burning Bureau was playing it in a different way than I had known; slowed down.  A variety of instruments were being played including a ukulele, guitar, bass, and drums. The lead female singer, who was also playing the ukulele, and the guitarist were harmonizing beautifully with both their voices as well as their instruments.

Overall, the music was soft and slow, creating a kind of romantic texture. This is ironic, though, because the song is describing what love should be like between two people and how that is not the case between the two main singers. Even so, when I listened to this song at Porchfest, I was intrigued with how the slow rhythm, simple melody, and beautiful harmony fit together to create a beautiful song. For the form, I believe it is AAB (B being the chorus), although I’m not even sure if that is an actual song form. Correct me if I’m wrong (which I probably am). All that I know for sure is that every band that I listened to at Porchfest caught my attention and made me stop to listen, especially “It Ain’t Me Babe” by the Better Barn Burning Bureau. I will definitely tell my friends who didn’t go about Porchfest and I can’t wait to go next year!