“...progressive folk sensibility with a storyteller's command, a strong backbone, and a confectioner's dusting of country blues...Barris is somehow able to wield a highly individualized sense of melody and song shape into tunes you can imagine other top vocalists covering. In a sea of fair to middling singer/songwriter albums, this comes highly recommended.” — Craig Havighurst, The Tennessean

“Sally Barris has a voice like sparkling crystal. You could have knocked me over with a feather the first time I heard her. Her writing is from a deep, yet innocent, place and her point of view is just a bit off center...It reminds me of the first time I heard Beth Nielson-Chapman or Nanci Griffith. It's going to be fun to watch.” — Kathy Mattea

“Her soulful folk soprano is equal parts mountain rustic and ethereal poet.” — Music Row Magazine

“The singer/songwriter/guitarists sweet voice and intriguing melodies will draw you in, and then her thoughtful and emotional lyrics will make you listen over and over again with growing admiration.” — Jessica Marshall

“Excellent, nay superb, brilliant, etc…” — Kelvin Henderson, BBC Radio

“Sally Barris knows how to write lyrics that are as forthright as a stream of clear water and how to support them with melodies that share that quality. She sings in a light, expressive soprano that is reminiscent of Claire Lynch and Aoife O'Donovan.” — Kerry Dexter, Dirty Linen

Musicologists wax poetic about the deep connection between Celtic and country music, but never has this tie been more apparent than with the release of Restless Soul from Sally Barris.

The Nashville-based artist and songwriter has seen her songs recorded by a wide variety of country music's elite. Those who have cut Barris' songs include country/pop superstars like Martina McBride and Trisha Yearwood, but also new traditionalist Lee Ann Womack and newcomers like American Idol finalist Kellie Pickler.

Restless Soul, a surprisingly seamless merger of these two facets of Barris' career, sounds like the record she always wanted to make. Her ethereal soprano, often compared to that of Alison Krauss, is utterly at home floating above a unique texture of accordion, fiddle, and dobro. Barris, who self-produced this, her third effort as an artist, selected a small group of backing musicians who share her multi-faceted "country and Celtic" pedigree. Notable contributors include Stuart Duncan, Jon Randall, and Andrea Zonn. As a result, Restless Soul will seem both fresh and familiar to Barris' two camps of fans: the British folk-festival goers who listen to her alongside Kate Rusby, and the country music fans who know her songs from recordings by Martina McBride and Trisha Yearwood.

As Alan Cackett of the British publication Maverick Magazine so enthusiastically put it: “If you're a fan of the likes of Kathy Mattea, Mindy Smith, Lee Ann Womack or Alison Krauss, then you need to rush out and buy Restless Soul. Ms Barris has really grown in her vocals and her approach to her music. This is going to be a hard CD to top.”

Wilder Girl

Sally Barris
released 2012

Restless Soul

Sally Barris
released 2007

Little Voice

Sally Barris
released 2004

Reluctant Daughter

Sally Barris
released 1999