At The Barrier favourites, Barbara, kick off 2025 as they mean to go on – another video in their growing Between Two Bookends series and news of full band gigs.

2024 was a momentous year for Barbara – a sell-out tour supporting Paul Weller, their own headlining tour, a second EP – the excellent Happy Days! – and, just a few weeks before Christmas, another wonderful single, the 1940s-referencing Little Bird Sing. We’re hoping that 2025 is the year that brings Barbara the success and recognition that they truly deserve – and they’ve kicked off the year in grand style with another video in their Between Two Bookends series and news of a couple of high-profile, full band gigs .

During their recent tour, the Tydeman brothers, John & Henry, paid tribute to the acts that have had the good sense to recognise their burgeoning talent by covering songs from The Divine Comedy, Paul Weller and Haircut 100 in a ‘Between Two Bookends’ interlude in their set and videos of the brothers performing those songs together, at home, can be viewed on Barbara’s YouTube channel here.

The Between Two Bookends concept continues to evolve. Just this week, John & Henry have added yet another of their intimate interpretations of favourite artists’ material and this one’s another pearler – a delicious version of Tom Waits’ Ol’ 55 – watch this latest video here:

HERE’S A THOUGHT

What’s becoming clear – and has possibly already occurred to the Tydemans – is that Between Two Bookends is starting to become a significant body of work in its own right within the Barbara canon and, just maybe, could become the subject of another of the guys’ excellent mini-albums.

With versions of Ol’ 55, Love Plus One, Paul Weller’s All the Pictures on the Wall, Miley Cyrus’s Flowers and Oasis’s Slide Away already doing the rounds, the basic content of an EP or mini-album are already there. How about it guys? It’s the perfect appetiser for something more full-bodied and adventurous that just might be on the cards for the Summer….

GIGS…LIVE…

And – the good news from Camp Barbara doesn’t end here. two full band gigs are scheduled for May; the first at Thorden Hall, Eastleigh on Friday 16th May, when Barbara will be supporting the one and only Dean Friedman – a particular favourite and inspiration of theirs, before they hit Central London once again for a headlining show at Pizza Express, Holborn, on Tuesday 20th May. Tickets for both shows are available here . Keep an eye on these pages for a review of at least one of the shows.

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