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Editor's note:KSL.com does a periodic feature on local bands and musicians. If you have a band or musician in mind, feel free to email your submission to jklopfenstein@ksl.com. Please include a contact email for the artist, if available.PROVO — What’s the biggest compliment you could give Provo band Michael Barrow and the Tourists? “You sound like John Mayer.”
The five-piece group (singer Michael Barrow, bassist Alessandro Improta, guitarist Mark Lanham, drummer Reed Perkins, keyboardist Zach Collier) formed in 2016 and has been blending Mayer-esque folk, pop, soft rock and soul ever since.
Naming the band
Including singer/songwriter Michael Barrow in the group’s moniker was a no-brainer. Coming up with a name for the rest of the group, however, proved more difficult.
We kicked around names for months,” Barrow explained. “We spent a ton of time designing logos for a ton of different names, some of which were really terrible and became running gags, like Michael Barrow and the Balcony Santas.”
“Michael Barrow and the Tourists was thrown out there, and for some reason it stuck,” he said. “We think it fits because I drove tour buses in Alaska for a few summers, and our first album was inspired by my time there. So it's kind of personal in that way.”
One album, two takes
That Alaska-inspired album, “Juneau,” was released in 2017. Across nine songs and 37 minutes, the album highlights the group’s range, from soft slow burner “Sad Song” to the anthemic sing-along “Sing Me Something New.”
The following year, the group released the “Santa Barbara Sessions” EP, a largely acoustic take on the “Juneau” material.
“Sometimes when you record an album, you spend so much time on little details and trying to get it just right that some of the magic gets lost in the process,” Barrow said of the difference between the two releases. “‘Juneau’ was made in seven months. ‘Santa Barbara Sessions’ was literally made in just a few hours in my apartment. We set up some microphones and played. It captures a lot of the authenticity we feel from these songs when we play them live.”
Expanding its sound
Though the band doesn’t plan to release another full-length album until next year, they’ve given fans a taste of things to come with two recent singles, “Never Stop” and “Sweet Honey.”
“These songs are definitely different than what was on ‘Juneau,’” Barrow said. “We actually wrote ‘Sweet Honey’ during our ‘Juneau’ writing sessions, but it just didn't fit stylistically. So, we shelved it and came back to it. We'd play it at shows, and people were always asking for it to be recorded. So, we started writing some material in the same vein and discovered a new side to our sound. ‘Never Stop’ came from that development.”
The band plans to continue to push in new musical directions. “People can expect some vintage soul stuff for the next few months,” Barrow said. “We're very excited about the stuff we've been writing together as a band. It's a good next step forward with our sound.”
Dad jokes and bad puns
While the recordings are getting tighter, The Tourists make sure to keep their live set loose.
“A lot of people assume that we must be these serious artists, because our music leans into the serious side of things,” Barrow said. “But all of us are good friends and we are so goofy. We try not to talk much when we're on stage, because if we talk too long it turns into a bunch of dad jokes and bad puns. So, we shoot for energetic, emotional shows that are 99% music, with very little talking in between. Come for the music, stay for the bad puns at the merch table.”
Check the band’s June show schedule for Salt Lake and Springville on its Facebook page.
