Thirteen year old Barrett Moore is open to any and all opportunities to sing in front of live audiences and learn from other performing artists. He will be performing during Meaford Hall’s Bruce Grey Country Jamboree on September 9, along with local artists Amanda Dorey, Scott Almond, the True Country Show Band, and True Heart Trio.
Barrett is the son of Regan and Jay Moore of Whitby and the grandson of Marilyn and Richard Morris of Meaford. He first performed in Grey County last December when True Country Show Band emcee Bill Murdoch invited him to perform during a True Country Christmas concert at the Roxy Theatre in Owen Sound.
Barrett has been a student of the Bird Loft School of Voice under the direction of Roberta Michele Quilico since he was seven years old. The majority of what he sings and the lyrics he writes are what he describes as upbeat contemporary pop music.
To hear Barrett perform music by some of the great adult voices makes one wonder how a vocalist so young can sing with the depth and soulfulness of the likes of Leonard Cohen and Adele, yet he does.
“People ask me all the time how I can sing about adult emotions,” he said. “I listen to the lyrics, I think of the meaning in them, and I try not to think of them as strictly adult feelings.”
For Barrett, singing is more than a hobby, it’s a passion.
“Singing is more than just a hobby for me. I performed Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah in my hometown during a Vimy Ridge concert in April. When I chatted backstage with the other performers and asked them if they knew Hallelujah, they did, and many versions of it. I asked about other songs – they knew them all. I would love to get there, where if someone asks me to sing a particular song I will know how to sing it.”
The September 9 Bruce Grey Country Jamboree is a Bognor Jam Productions concert. Tickets are available at the Meaford Hall Arts & Culture Centre.
