Joey Barnes

The Silver Tongue
Ultimate Music News Resource
Joey Barnes: Not Just Another Pretty Rocker



It would be so easy to just be a rock star. The money, groupies and adoration of millions of fans are just some of the job benefits. But as in all things in life, fame can be a double edged sword that can lead to vanity, egocentric thinking and living life in a glass bubble. Our friend, Joey Barnes (solo artist and drummer for Daughtry) is determined to not let that happen by remaining close to his fans, staying real, and giving back to this world in various charitable ways.

I have interviewed Joey at length before, but we never touched on his generosity to many organizations and projects. To be honest with you, I had no idea. You see, as opposed to some famous people that get involved with charities for the notoriety, Joey Barnes doesn’t promote his involvement at all. I am about to change that and give props where props are due.

I first noticed a post by Joey last week on Facebook asking friends/fans to make a donation via planetwize.com instead of sending him a birthday card or gift. That in and of itself is a pretty cool thing, but then I learned that Barnes has donated a song off his new EP “Always” to TST’s upcoming compilation CD to benefit the Emory University Autism Center.

The song is entitled “The Wire (Act I)” and is about Barnes’ literal overnight indoctrination to fame when he got the gig with Chris Daughtry. According to Josh Seawell, of Nascent Republic Records (Joey’s label), “It’s about a fictional character in a circus, walking the tightrope wire with people watching, and the fear of falling or failure. And yes, there is an Act II.” Quite a poignant song to donate to a cause as worthy as Atlanta’s own Emory Autism Center. We are very honored and grateful to Joey and Nascent Republic for their contribution to the project.

Joey was first introduced to charitable causes in a big time way. A trip to Africa two years ago with Daughtry on the “Idol Gives Back Tour”, literally changed his life…and he’s been giving ever since. He has teamed up with planetwize.com for his “Birthday Wish Campaign” as well as a future project which will feature two songs written specifically about his trip to Africa. Dan Porras, Founder of Planetwize said, “We are very excited about the collaboration with Joey on his “Birthday Wish Campaign” as well as the upcoming album. We have had hundreds of Joey’s fans/friends/family donate to his cause.” 100% of the proceeds will go to charities, including nextaid.org; an organization that Joey has worked closely with in the past. If you would like to donate, please go to planetwize.com/joeybarnes.

The TST Compilation CD will be available on iTunes and in select stores on August 24th. Don’t worry…we’ll let you know ALL about it! Thanks to everyone!

Val King


- The Silver Tongue Online

If you don’t know who Joey Barnes is right off the cuff, it may be because for the past few years he’s been hiding. Not in a literal nor musical sense; as he’s been a member of and on tour with Chris Daughtry (Daughtry…for the people living in caves); which has taken him all over the world playing before tens of thousands. Barnes, who is fluent on an obscene number of instruments, just happens to be playing drums on his gig with Daughtry, an old friend from the musician trenches, a.k.a. “BAI” (Before American Idol).

Joey admits that sitting behind a kit affords him a “safe haven” from the traditional pressure of being front & center, but he’s no stranger to departures from his “drummer hidey hole”, and has played numerous roles in successful bands (Suicide Darlings & The Patrick Rock Band). Front & center is exactly where Barnes will be in very short order with the release this week of his new 5 song EP, entitled “Always”.

Barnes has been spreading himself a little thin these days, simultaneously recording “Always” and the upcoming Daughtry CD, which is due out this summer. “Always” was recorded and produced by his decade-long friend, Josh Seawell at Seawell Studios in North Carolina (www.seawellstudios.com) and is on Seawell’s indie label, Nascent Republic Records (www.nascentrepublic.com).

Although over 30 songs were recorded, the duo decided that the resulting five song EP highlighted the eclectic range of genre and sound that Joey can kick out. There is a lil something for everyone, and from what I heard…all are exceptional. My personal favorite is “Story of a Girl”, and reflects the influence of The Beatles on Joey. The EP is available right now on the Nascent Republic website, Joey’s website (www.joeybarnesofficial.com), and ITunes on Monday (March 23,2009).

At this moment in time, Joey’s long and winding road has led him to the doors of the
Dan McGinnis Bar in Nashville; where he’s been up all night shooting the premiere title video for “Always”; directed by his best friend, Matt Blair. I talked w/ Joey at length about where he’s been, where he’s going & how the hell he got here…

He is basically one of those musicians made in the womb. The kid really didn’t stand a chance coming from a completely musical family. His dad is a drummer for The Magnificents, mom plays and sings, aunts uncles, cousins…they all play some kind of instrument in varying genres (except for younger brothers Jason & Justin who must have eaten lead paint or something because they are all about hip hop & rap. Joey still claims them though, so that’s cool. Bro’s can forgive a lot – ha!).

While the other dad’s on the block were putting together pre-fab cribs, Barnes’ dad utilized the 9 month gestation period to design & build his unborn son a custom-made drum kit. Joey said, “There just is not a time that I don’t remember music going on in and around our house, and although there’s pictures and videos of me “playing” the drums at like age two; the first true cognitive memory of actually PLAYING and having a sense of what I was doing, was probably around age seven.” I naturally assumed that his dad gave him formal lessons/training, but Joey reflected, “Nah, it really wasn’t like that. There was never any pressure whatsoever from either of my parents. My dad is just a phenomenal drummer & I have always been a more visual learner. So, I’d watch and observe him jamming and then I’d try to duplicate him. Of course he gave me advice and help, but he understood as a musician himself, that I was learning at my own pace & in my own way. I still learn new instruments like that. Hey, it works for me (laughing).”

Yes, it is obviously working. Joey was known throughout the southeast (long before Daughtry) primarily as a drummer. But he plays, “just about anything I can get my hands on:” Bass/Harmony/Lead guitar, piano, organ, clarinet, harmonica, trumpet…well you get the idea…the dude can make some sweet sounds with a precision most musicians would kill for. He wrote all the songs on the EP and plays all the instruments. He plans to do an accoustical tour this summer (in between gigs w/ Daughtry). I asked him how he was gonna pull that off (since he did everything himself on Always). He said, “I already know exactly who I want to back me up & all of them are on board. It’s a group of some of the best musicians I’ve ever known.” TST will keep you posted on the schedule as soon as it becomes available.

TST: What is your songwriting process? For instance, do you write the lyrics first then the melody, and what instrument do you primarily use in the beginning stages?

JB: I always write the music first, and it is usually on the piano. I am a firm believer in letting the music speak for itself. The melody makes the song. Write lyrics around the melody. I’ve seen the process reversed, and in my opinion, lyrics can sometimes box up incredibly big songs into a small little corner. B - www.silvertongueonline.com

Joey Barnes doesn't live his life like most rock stars. The drummer for Daughtry still spends a great deal of his down time in the 'Boro. He travels sans entourage, his face bare of identity-shielding shades indoors. He drives a Honda, not a tricked-out Hummer. It seems a smash hit album, tour and even a couple Grammy nominations haven't changed this Greensboro native much.

"My bank account's bigger," Barnes says of his newfound fame. "And that just allows me to do what I want to do. I'll always be the same dude. I've always been weird and eccentric and eclectic and all the other 'e' words. I know who I am and what I can do and what I can't do and what I want to do. I've always known that."

What he's always wanted to do is play music. Growing up in a family of musicians, Barnes was introduced to music at a young age. "My dad is a musician, and my mother is, as well. That's how they met," Barnes says. "My uncles are musicians. Just everybody was playing music. My dad made me a drum set before I was born. They'd take pictures of me playing on it. But they never forced me to play on it or anything like that. It was just a thing I watched them do and then decided I wanted to do, too."

Music may have been in Barnes' blood, but his first attempts at playing were anything but successful.

"I remember hitting myself in the face with the drumsticks because they were bigger than my arms," Barnes says. "And I'd cry, and my dad would have to come up, and I did it so often that he knew what happened because I had marks all over my face."

Barnes finally mastered the instrument and played his first gig, a wedding, at age 10. During his high school years at Vandalia Christian School, he formed bands with friends, experimenting with singing and even playing bass.

"I started wanting to sing behind the drums," Barnes says.

"And it was easier because I was kind of hidden back there, so I was free to learn and get better and if I hit bum notes, I could hide behind the cymbals or something like that and just point at him (the lead singer)."

Barnes played in several bands through the years, including the Suicide Darlings, the Patrick Rock Band and a cover band called Seven and the Deadlies, which covered songs by female artists, with the members dressed in drag. With those bands, he graced the stages of many clubs in the area, including the Blind Tiger and Greene Street Club. But he says the first club he played, the Rhino, remains his favorite.

Barnes played the local club circuit for nearly 10 years, but he didn't get his big break until several years ago, when he met a relatively unknown local singer, Chris Daughtry, at a battle of the bands where they were both competing.

"I guess my talent just kind of blew him away. I guess he was just taken aback. He was breathless, like Faith Hill," Barnes jokes. "So I guess we had kind of a mutual respect for each other, and that's the first time we met and talked, and I remember seeing him at the theater, and I came up to him and I was like, 'I'm your drummer, because you need one.'"

A few months later, Daughtry became a household name after his 2006 appearance on "American Idol," and when an opening for a drummer came up in his band, he remembered Barnes, who he'd kept in touch with since the competition.

The band's debut album, "Daughtry," (RCA, 2006) went four-times platinum, spent weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard charts and garnered four Grammy nominations.

"That's a cool thing (Grammy nomination), that's awesome and it's scary because at the same time, it's a first album," Barnes says. "It's scary because the people are very finicky, and one minute they'll be behind you, and then the next minute, they're on to something else. It's like ADD. The country's got a massive ADD problem. And there's so many shows and new stars, and there's always someone who can take your place. It's a dangerous business because if that's (fame) what you're in it for, you're gonna get let down."

The band went on tour, first hitting clubs and theaters with lesser-known bands, then arenas and amphitheaters with Nickelback and most recently, Bon Jovi. And while Barnes enjoyed seeing new places and playing in front of thousands of fans, the grueling schedule began to take a toll on him.

"Last year was absolutely horrifying because we played about 300 shows in that year," Barnes says.

"You're on a bus, on a plane, on a bus, on a plane, like, 'Where am I? I have no idea.' We go overseas; we come back; we go back overseas. I mean, it was absolutely nuts."

Last month, Barnes headed back to Los Angeles to begin recording Daughtry's second album.

"That's the most fun we're going to probably have for the next two years," Barnes says. "The recording the record is going to be the vacation. It's after that, when we tour the record for about a thousand years, like we did the last one, I'm not looking forward to that quite yet. It's a whole different mindset."

When D - Greensboro News & Record

I’m a 28-year-old married woman. But there’s something about a good-looking rock star that will turn me into a bumbling, blushing 12-year-old schoolgirl.

For me, that good-looking rock star is Joey Barnes, drummer for Daughtry. He’s been the object of my … let’s say "interest" … since Daughtry’s debut CD was released in November 2006. I was a huge fan of Chris Daughtry, so I couldn’t wait to buy the CD. But when I saw the first promotional pictures of the band, one of the band members immediately caught my eye. With a little research I learned he was drummer Joey Barnes, Greensboro native.

Since that day, it’s been "Good bye, Chris," "Hello, Joey."

I’ve attended two Daughtry concerts in Greensboro. The first was the free downtown concert last year. Girls in the crowd were screaming, "I love you, Chris!" like it was going out of style. Without even thinking I yelled, "I love you, Joey!" (The 12-year-old girl emerged for the first time.)

Then I attended the recent Bon Jovi/Daughtry concert. My friends and I hung around the loading dock area outside the coliseum for about 45 minutes after the show just in case we could get a glimpse of any of the guys. Definitely not one of my finer moments.

The last time I acted like this I actually was a 12-year-old girl with a crush on another rock star. Another Joey, in fact; Joey McIntyre of New Kids on the Block. His poster was on my bedroom wall, and I kissed it every night before I went to bed.

I don’t have a poster of Joey Barnes in my bedroom, but there’s one of the band in my cubicle at work. I do check out his MySpace page every once in awhile to see what he’s up to and listen to his music. (Go to http://www.myspace.com/joeybarnesmusic.)

And being a friend on Joey’s page and the Daughtry page, I get updates. That’s where I saw the note that the band was taking some time off, and he and Chris would be back in Greensboro.

Hmm, I thought. Maybe I’ll run into him. Yeah, right.

Flash forward to a recent Friday afternoon. Enter the bumbling, blushing 12-year-old schoolgirl.

"Excuse me? Joey?"

Yes, I was speaking to Joey Barnes. While on my lunch break downtown, I saw him walking down Elm Street, just a few feet in front of me. My mind started racing.

What do I do? Do I bother him? Do I go talk to him? What do I say? I’ve wanted to meet him forever.

I knew I had to approach him, or I would regret it forever. So I casually walked up to him at the corner of Elm and Washington streets and introduced myself. On the inside, I was dying. I was shaking but I don’t know if it was noticeable.

He was very nice to me and gave me a big hug. He was a bit distracted, though, and told me he was on the way to meet his dad for lunch.

I didn’t keep him for long, and we snapped a quick picture with my cell phone.

After Joey walked away and I continued on to get my lunch, I opened up my cell phone to look at the picture. I scrolled through the pictures of my husband and me, my dogs, my friend’s baby, fabric samples for curtains. Hmmm, back to my husband and me, my dogs … then panic set in.

I didn’t save the picture! I have no documentation that this meeting even occurred!

Some friends are questioning if I made the whole thing up, since I have no picture.

But it was real. And now that I’ve met him, I see that he’s real. A real guy who has lunch with his dad downtown.

Andrea Martin is a page designer with the News & Record. Contact her at 373-7018 or andrea.martin@news-record.com. - Greensboro News & Record

This up and coming drummer has already become a huge success with the award -winning, multi-platinum selling rock band Daughtry. One thing that has always been a constant in Joey Barnes’ life is music. He was born into a family of musicians. Joseph Barnes,Sr., his father, happens to be the current drummer for The Magnificents out of Greensboro, N.C. During Joey’s childhood he gained an aptitude and passion for the drums while watching his dad jam with his bandmates both at home and clubs. Joey’s mother, a multi talented musician, also fostered his musical interest. Joey played in numerous North Carolina bands before landing the gig with Daughtry. As he enters the stage he will catch your immediate attention with his individualistic sense of style. But then you will soon be captivated and utterly entertained by the omnipotent beating of his drums. When Joey plays, he plays energetically, vigorously, and high-powered. Though a drummer, he considers himself an artist first with a great love of singing, songwriting, and playing various instruments. I interviewed Joey during a recording break from his upcoming solo album. Here’s what he had to say about his influences, inspirations, and not playing by the rules.



Classic Drummer: What made you want to play the drums?

Joey Barnes: My dad, Joseph Barnes. He made me a kit pretty much before I was even born, waiting on me to get up on there. I don’t think he really pressured me or forced me to do it. I’ve got really cool pictures of me on his drums when I was old enough to sit on him. You know my crib was between his stereo and his drum kit and all I remember is hearing The Beatles. I mean the drums were always there, he was always playing.

CD: Do you remember the first song you played on the drums?

JB: Peter Gabriel, "In Your Eyes"

CD: Is your dad the one that taught you to play drums?

JB: If there was anybody it would be my dad. I studied watching him. I spent much much more time watching him than I did listening to him so I just really wanted to beat the crap out of them, that’s all I wanted to do, animalistic, neantherdal, still am, still very much neanderthal. I’ve always been pretty stubborn, I don’t play by the rules when it comes to sylistically, I just do it. I do it how I do it, I don’t hold the sticks properly, learn by all the necessary things most drummers do when they start out, I was all over the place, different instruments and different music.

CD: Growing up, how often would you watch your dad play?

JB: I don’t know if it was daily, it was all the time though, as far as I remember his homies were always hanging around jammin, practice and play on the weekends, at night sometimes and on the weekdays, he was always playing. I remember going and seeing him play all the time, it was interesting, I guess the older I got the more it became a source of therapy.

CD: Overall, which drummer have you been most inspired by?

JB: My dad and Ringo Starr.

CD: What makes Ringo Starr so influential to you? What qualities does he have that you feel make him stand out among drummers?

JB: He didn’t play like anybody else, I mean, he was definitely original and he was always having a good time and that was the most important thing to me, to have a good time and to enjoy it and he just was a goofy character and I like the way he came across, he wasn’t all serious. He did stuff that was very original and some may sound a certain way but when you watched him play it’s not what you think. He definitely approached it in a different light, which was totally cool. Other than that, the fact that he’s in the greatest band of all time.

CD: Past or present, other than Daugthry, if you could be a drummer for any band, which band would that be?

JB: Tough one, gosh..any band... I would love to play with Sting honestly. I mean, I like so many different bands and different styles of music, but he always has the best musicians and his music is just all over the place. I think I would get bored easily with just one thing so he would be the perfect match.

CD: What gear are you using?

JB: The drums are C&C drums, they are from Kansas City, the best drums ever made, some of the best looking drums ever made. Put them against any drums. Sabian cymbals, DW Hardware and Vic for sticks.

CD: Besides the drums what other instruments do you most like to play?

JB: Piano, guitar, bass. I have actually been playing a lot of the harmonica recently in the studio and the clarinet.

CD: If you weren’t in the music industry, what would you be doing?

JB: Probably a motivational speaker, therapist or a teacher of some sort, political science teacher.

CD: What are your feelings regarding a large portion of today’s music having primarily electronic beats as opposed to real skins?

JB: I dont mind, I think it’s great, a beat is a beat. It’s nice when you’re able to take electronic rhythms, track it and bring it to a live show on a real drum kit. - Classic Drummer Magazine

There was a lot to be grateful for at the Barnes' Thanksgiving table this year.

After all, two members of their family had just received top recognition for their talents as musicians.

Joey Barnes, Sr. had won, along with his fellow band members, "Favorite New Artist" at the Carolina Beach Music Awards on November 11. He is the drummer for the popular MAGNIFICENTS.

His son, Joey Barnes, Jr. was awarded, along with his other band members, "Favorite Breakthrough Artist", "Favorite Adult Contemporary Artist", and "Favorite Rock or Pop Album" on November 18 at the American Music Awards. Joey Jr. is the drummer for DAUGHTRY.

Both father and son have a special love for the hollow percussion instrument.

Joey Sr.'s love affair with the drums started in the sixth grade when he joined the school band. He grew up in the Lake Daniel section in Greensboro where local bands played in the park on Wednesday nights for neighborhood teens. His exposure to bands such as The Shifters, Partly Cloudy, Inmen, Ltd., Fabulous Five, and Willie Tee and the Magnificents provided many mentors for the aspiring musician. He formed his own band named "Early Morning Fog" at the ripe age of 14. They played together throughout high school and even a few years after that. "Early Morning Fog" backed up such national acts as The Tams and The Drifters. In the mid-seventies, Joey formed another group known as "Morning Star", a contemporary Christian rock band that wrote their own music and performed together for several years. Joey Sr. was also a member of Timepiece, a beach music favorite, in the early 90's and played for a while with legendary Jackie Gore. He joined the MAGNIFICENTS in January 2007.

Joey, Jr., the eldest of three sons, inherited his father's talent and love for the drums.

He grew up watching and listening to his father giving drum lessons. He obviously picked up a lot by osmosis as well as some personal instruction from Dad. Joey, Sr. says his son skipped the beginning stage of the learning curve and quickly developed and honed his skills. During his 20's and 30's, Joey Jr. played drums in various bands he put together, performing in clubs to the delight of audiences. Meanwhile, another North Carolina musician named Chris Daughtry left the American Idol contest in 2006 with national recognition. He was awarded a record contract with RCA. Joey Jr. auditioned for a place in the now-famous band and won out over hundreds of other hopefuls. The rest is history…a history that has just begun, so to speak.

Joey, Sr. is honored and awed by the CBMA award. "Each and every member of the MAGNIFICENTS is a tremendous talent. There is so much experience we all have with a lot of big-name talent. We have endless stories we share with each other."

We've been MAGNETIZED! We've been IDOLIZED!

94.9 the Surf is proud of BOTH drummer boys from the Carolinas! - 94.9 The Surf Onilne

I'm a rock 'n' roll junkie; I can't imagine life without music. It's part of my daily routine.

While cleaning house, I'll crank up Janet Jackson's "Rhythm Nation" and sing while I scrub the toilet. If I'm working out, The Cult and LL Cool J team up for a one-two punch for cardio and weights.

My grandmother introduced me to rock 'n' roll, particularly Elvis. At 84, she still has posters of The King on her wall. In high school in the '80s, I discovered Bon Jovi and lead singer Jon, the ultimate rock-star fantasy.

Recently, I've added newcomers Daughtry, fronted by last year's "American Idol" rocker Chris Daughtry, to my all-star list.


In fact, I'll be rockin' out with Daughtry in Birmingham on Tuesday and in Nashville on Thursday. Since you never know when you might see a band member before a show and need a conversation starter, I did a little research and ended up on the telephone with drummer Joey Barnes. (He's more accessible than Chris.)


I discovered that "rock stars" are just like regular people - they just have more fans.


I learned that Joey and I are kindred spirits: We both love chocolate ice cream, and he loves music as much as I do.


"I'm always singing, I'm always entertaining or something. Sometimes people get really perturbed," Joey says with a laugh. "Maybe it's part my insane love of music and maybe it's part ADD. I don't know."


Friends sometimes think I'm nuts, too, because I'm so into my music. I bought three copies of Daughtry's double platinum, chart-topping debut album (two CDs, one download). I have 136 Bon Jovi songs in iTunes, and come June 19 another new Bon Jovi album will be added. I have playlists for just about everything.


Well, how about Joey's and my penchant for crazy clothes? Have you ever seen a rocker in capris and pink-and-gray argyle socks? Or playing the drums in a Starbucks apron? The handsome free spirit pulls it off all while rocking the "guyliner."



See the similarities? No?


For me, it was leggings and miniskirts back in the day. Motorcycle jacket with a dress? I was cool. No Guess jeans for me; I proudly wore my boy-cut Levi's. Although I'm a mom and a professional now, I still try to sneak in some funkiness with jewelry, silly T-shirts and a zebra-print dress worn over jeans. And I still rock the men's jeans.


And one last thing we have in common: We both shy away from the "rock star" lifestyle.

As a married mom, I have no desire to "party all the time" like Eddie Murphy once sang, although an occasional concert is fun. Heck, I can barely make it to midnight most nights.


Joey says, "I don't ever want to be a rock star. You have to divide fame and the art; it's like dividing church and state. You have to learn to separate the two because your fame will ruin your art."


The guy who still buys CDs for the artwork and keeps his cash in his trusty Duran Duran wallet adds, "The fans are the ones who put you where you are."


Celebrities are just like us regular people. We all just want to do what we love and have people appreciate it.




Tiffani Hill-Patterson is a Times copy editor who wishes she had the guts to sing in front of a crowd. - Huntsville Times

Playing for a home crowd excites Daughtry drummer

by Charity Apple for the Times-News

GREENSBORO — Drummer Joey Barnes Jr. has crossed paths with rocker Chris Daughtry numerous times.

Both played in bands and knew the same people in Greensboro, and they even competed against each other at an area Battle of the Bands contest. At the time, Chris Daughtry worked at the Honda dealership.

"I took my car up there. We developed a mutual respect for each other," Barnes said in a phone interview from Pittsburgh, Pa, last Thursday afternoon. Barnes also tried out for "Rock Star: INXS" at the same time Daughtry did.

Barnes made it to the final 50 but decided it wasn't something he wanted to do at the time.

Now he's glad.

As drummer for Daughtry, the band named for the former "American Idol" contestant, he's gotten the opportunity to play live in front of millions during Fox's live New Year's Eve show, and he's currently on tour with the band.

Daughtry will play a free, live show Friday night at Hamburger Square (at McGee and Davie streets, along South Elm Street) in downtown Greensboro. It's part of the NCAA women's basketball tournament. Athenaeum is special guest.

Barnes auditioned along with guitarist Jeremy Brady, a Greensboro native. Brady has since left the band and now plays with the Burlington-based band Beneath The Wheel. He was replaced by Brian Craddock, a Charlottesville, Va., native.

At 30 years old, Barnes will tell you he's already had an extraordinary life. His parents are musicians and some of his earliest memories are of being in clubs, hearing his parents play. "My dad built a drum set for me," he said. "Music was always a constant in my life."

His dad, Joey Barnes Sr., plays drums for The Magnificents, an area beach music/variety band. The group recently performed a St. Patrick's Day dance at the Ramada Inn in Burlington.

"Back in the day, when everybody was rockin' out, my dad was right there in the middle of it," he said. He graduated from Vandalia Christian School and attended Liberty University for a semester before realizing music was where his heart was.

"Music was my graduation," he said of college.

He spent a few years playing in bands and did a lot of traveling. Now, he's packed on a bus with four other guys who he calls "real good guys."

"It's pretty rare in this business to meet genuine people. But when you meet everybody in this band, you realize that's who we are," he said. "Everybody's got their ways and yes, we can get on each other's nerves. I mean, c'mon, it's 12 dudes on a bus. But we're all in this together."

When Daughtry stops in Greensboro on Friday, there's just a couple of things Barnes hopes to do: Reconnect with old friends, visit with his parents and two younger brothers and "do some laundry the proper way. I'm not kidding. I need to separate my darks and whites. You can't do that on the road." - Greensboro News & Record

Interview with: Joey Barnes of Daughtry
Interviewer: Shauna Brock

Talking to Daughtry drummer Joey Barnes is like stepping into a Robert Frost poem – you never know which road you will take and it will be many miles before you rest. The drummer of pop rocks reigning band is a study in tangents; ask him about education and he will tell you about Christianity. Ask about books and he will speak of Morrissey. A Dylan-esque mind trapped in a world of 140 character twitter feeds and formulaic radio hits, Barnes is as unafraid of the world he is a part of as he is welcoming of the experiences life has given him.
It began innocently enough. A game of phone tag led to a brief conversation about his 13-year old-dog, but quickly our conversation tracked into the maze of the mind Joey Barnes possesses.
So, the obvious question first, how did you get hooked up with Daughtry?
It was five years ago, maybe. We played on the same circuit in bands around Greensboro (North Carolina.) There was one show, a Battle of the Bands, and I was playing in two different bands. I played guitar and sang in one and was playing drums in the other. It was that night we made the connection. He won - he invited everyone he knew. And so really, I lost twice to him that night. But we talked and made a connection. He worked up the street from where I lived – I took my car there, so we were able to keep that connection. We were working toward the same thing. Then he went and did the Idol thing. When he was back in town, we ran into each other at a theater and I went up to him, stuck out my hand, and said, “I’m your drummer if you need one.” We met up on MySpace later and I was in LA pretty quick.
You have a solo career; describe the difference in your creative processes between working with Daughtry and working alone.
Working with Daughtry… you’re working with five guys who are all different. The first album was completely Chris and studio musicians and I had nothing to do with that first record. But, we spent time on the road together for three years, which brought us together as a band and let us gel together. The new record is the culmination of that. It’s the culmination of the five of us being on the road, sharing ideas, running from hotel room to hotel room and getting opinions on ideas. But when working solo, if I get an idea, I can record a basic idea or record a basic riff, and it will just snowball. I’m playing all the instruments on my stuff – the guitar tracks or the piano tracks – and it just keeps going until it turns into a monster. When it’s just you, it’s a longer process. You have full and complete control over what you do and you do exactly what you want and you aren’t doing it for anyone else. In order to have a band, you have to make room for opinion, make room for egos, be humble, swallow pride, and give things a shot that you normally wouldn’t do. You’re trying to please four other dudes.
You released two solo EP’s this year. Was there a reason for the two separate releases?
Whenever we’d have a break, we’d come home and I’d go to the studio and stay there. I recorded thirty songs. It just happened to start that way and I was finishing songs in groups of five so I’d release some here or there and it felt right. I got positive feedback and personally I’d like to keep releasing the five song EPs until the end of the Daughtry tour and then do a full album. What goes on in my head. I don’t stay in one genre. I am working on a new EP for the year and two of the songs are going to raise money for planetwise.com, which is a small version of One. Planetwise does just as much good but it’s smaller and doesn’t have the problems that the bigger organizations have. I wrote two songs when we went to Africa for One and did some work over there. I wanted to do the songs with them but there were so many people to go through that I ended up seeking out other places and that’s how I found Planetwise. The song proceeds are going to them – they’ll be available for download at Planetwise. The EP is called Change.
Do you prefer writing, singing, or playing?
The creative process… The Beatles stopped touring in 1966 and stayed in the studio and put out records and never toured again. They broke up. Playing again would have given them the spark back. You can’t… you have to have shows. As a performing artist… there are people who write soundtracks but performing artists have to perform it. Once you get an intimate view, it makes sense. They need each other. Can’t imagine creating without sharing.
What are your favorite songs on Last Request and Always?
I like… I really like (on Always) “The Wire.” It’s the first track. It’s what started the concept – got me going on all the songs. A lot are about the same character… person going through the same thing. It’s a young person who is a tight rope walker and he’s the best and his parents were the best. He does it because his parents did. It’s all he knows but it’s not what he wants to do. - www.pageantzine.net