Niki Barr

Niki Barr

Niki Barr performing live in concert.
Background information
Origin Denton, Maryland
Website thelastyear.net

Niki Barr is an American musician from Denton, Maryland. Starting in 2013 she is the lead singer for The Last Year, a Baltimore, Maryland based alternative band.

Career

Early years

Niki began writing, performing, and recording at age 15 and soon after, began working with Mike Marucci of Marucci Artist Management, Inc. He introduced Niki to producer, Jim Ebert. Jim and Niki worked together on her records The Other Side of Me EP, Lush, and Go EP. Lush (2005) was Niki's first full-length record and included songs co-written with Butch Walker, The Matrix (record production team), Wizardz of Oz, Matthew Gerrard, and Stephen Lironi. The single "Wasted Time" became the #1 single on Sky Radio in the UK for over 6 weeks. Soon after, Go was released as an EP, and it managed to sit atop Sky Radio for over 8 weeks in the UK.

Niki Barr Band

Through her manager and friends, Niki joined forces with guitarist Island Styles, bassist Scott Von Ensign, and drummer BJ Kerwin to form Niki Barr Band. Together, the band wrote, recorded, and produced their Bloom EP (2008). The band's follow up album, entitled "Radar Radio", was released in 2010.

In 2012 the band released a cover of the Nine Inch Nails song "Closer". The accompanying music video was the first ever created by the band. As of April 2013 the video has over 13,000 hits on YouTube.

Photo of singer/songwriter Niki Barr performing live in concert
Photo of members of The Last Year

The Last Year

In June 2013 Niki Barr and band mate Scott Ensign formed "The Last Year". The duo was signed to a contract with Shanachie Entertainment, home to such artists as Rusted Root, Leela James, and the Flobots. A five-song EP was released on August 13, 2013. The first single from the EP, "Sugar", was released in July 2013. The band made its public debut on July 12, 2013, at The Ottobar in Baltimore, Maryland.[1]

In November 2013 The Last Year was named the 98 Rock Band of The Month by a local Baltimore radio station.[2] and covered in Shockwave Magazine [3]

The band released a video featuring an acoustic version of their debut single "Sugar" on YouTube in February 2014.[4] The video was reviewed by Guitar World, who described it as "..a haunting little number that showcases some great songwriting.".[5] Later that year the single was featured on the sound trick the first season of MTV’s House of Food on episode 7, entitled "Sweet Relief".[6]

The second single, "Mania", was released in February 2015 in advance of their next studio album. In support of the album they toured throughout the year, including a performance at the 2015 South by Southwest Festival in Austin, Texas, where they were named one of the Austin 100.[7] The band performed with Sick of Sarah during their 2015 tour.

"Mania" entered into Top 40 songs by Double Neuve FM 99 Peru on June 13, 2015.[8] The song was ranked at number 20 on the Top Notch Top 25 Best Songs of 2015 [9]

The band's next album, entitled Static Automatic, was released in March 2016. The band has toured extensively in support of the album, including an appearance at Summerfest 2016 in Milwaukee, WI. They also performed at the National Park Service Centennial Celebration in Washington DC on August 25, 2016.

Touring

The Niki Barr Band completed 12 international tours in 5 years with Armed Forces Entertainment (AFE), performing for the US Troops in the Middle East, Japan, UK, and many other countries throughout Europe and Southeast Asia. The tours spanned 40 countries across 3 continents and brought the band support from Billboard Magazine, Rolling Stone Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, Time Magazine, and NPR Radio's "Border Crossings with Larry London." [10] April 30, 2009 the Niki Barr Band won radio station DC101's "Last Band Standing" competition, granting them the opening spot of the DC101 Chili Cook-Off concert at RFK Stadium May 16, 2009, supporting bands Third Eye Blind, Papa Roach, and The Offspring.[11]

The first AFE overseas tour went to Japan, Diego Garcia, and Singapore in 2003. Her most extensive tour was in late 2005, which involved seven countries. Countries she's performed in include Afghanistan, Bahrain, Djibouti, Saudi-Arabia, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates. In March–April 2007, the band returned to the same theater for another AFE sponsored tour.[12][13][14]

Niki Barr Band was a headliner on the annual ShipRocked music cruise tour, featured 2009 and invited to return 2010; the band appeared both years.[15]

The band has shared stages with Joan Jett, Paramore, The Offspring, The Cult, Papa Roach, Shinedown, Puddle of Mudd, Third Eye Blind, The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, Crossfade, Sevendust, Vince Neil, the GoGos, Tesla, Charm City Devils and many other notable marquee acts.

Niki has also worked locally with United Service Organizations (USO) of Metropolitan Washington, D.C..

Clothing Line

Niki created her own clothing line, Neurotica, in 2005. Neurotica is a licensed and registered trademark of Niki Barr Enterprises, LLC.[16]

Discography

Niki Barr provides the vocals for the theme song for the crime re-enactment show "Scorned: Love Kills" on the Investigation Discovery channel. The 30 second song is available on the show's official website.

References

  1. ↑ "Now Is The Time for The Last Year". Retrieved 26 June 2013.
  2. ↑ "98 Rock's Band of the Month". Retrieved 7 November 2013.
  3. ↑ "The Last Year". Retrieved 4 November 2013.
  4. ↑ "Sugar"
  5. ↑ "Guitar World". Retrieved 24 March 2014.
  6. ↑ "MTV House of Food". Retrieved 13 November 2014.
  7. ↑ "SXSW 2015 Top 100". Retrieved March 2015. Check date values in: |access-date= (help)
  8. ↑ "Double Neuve Week End 6-13-2015". Retrieved 13 June 2015.
  9. ↑ "Top Notch Top 25 Best Songs of 2015". Retrieved 28 December 2015.
  10. ↑ "Tour of Duty: Bands go to Iraq" (PDF). Retrieved 31 May 2007.
  11. ↑ "DC101 Chili Cook-Off". Retrieved 28 August 2012.
  12. ↑ "Niki Barr Band boost military morale by giving the gift of rock this holiday season". Retrieved 3 December 2008.
  13. ↑ "Niki Barr Entertains Troops". Retrieved 31 October 2005.
  14. ↑ "Wall Street Journal: Rock in a Hard Place". Retrieved 24 March 2007.
  15. ↑ "Shiprocked Music Tour". Retrieved 28 August 2012.
  16. ↑ "Neurotica Clothing". Retrieved 28 August 2012.

Further reading

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