"Around Again" is a one-song CD written in memory of Bay Area Musical Icon Joe Barnett, who's recent passing left a tremendous void in the musical world. Joe was a true inspiration to everyone, and "Around Again" captures the spirit he left with us.

1 MP3 Songs
ROCK: Classic Rock, ROCK: Acoustic



Details:
There will never be another Joe Barnett. My hope is that "Around Again" will keep Joe front and center in our lives, and right there cheering us on in the pursuit of our musical and creative aspirations. "Around Again" is about passion, love, trust, giving, respecting, and living your best life. Keep this song close to your heart in times of loss. It WILL give you strength, comfort and understanding. "Around Again" is now available in digital download through most on-line music stores (i.e. www.iTunes.com click "music store" then type "Rick Cordes" in Search bar and hit Enter). All proceeds from the sale of this CD will go to the JOE BARNETT SCHOLARSHIP FUND.
Peace,
Rick Cordes


Friends mourn theater musician who inspired many
By Pat Craig
CONTRA COSTA TIMES

Joe Barnett, 46, recalled by friends as one of the most influential leaders of the area's theatrical music scene, died Saturday, April 13, 2006 in Concord's Mount Diablo Hospital, following a long illness. His body, accompanied by his wife, Becky, was flown Tuesday to Kentucky for funeral services.

Barnett, of Concord, had worked at one time or another with most area theater groups, including Diablo Valley College, where he did "Smoky Joe's Cafe" and "A Chorus Line," and CTA Crossroads Theater, where he helped create a Frank Sinatra show.

But he was most closely associated with events at Walnut Creek's Dean Lesher Regional Center for the Arts. There he served as musical director for the Shellie Awards, an annual theater awards show, for the Fantasy Forum children's theater, and most of the musical projects staged by Walnut Creek's Center Repertory Theatre Company.

"He was my go-to guy for the music," said Scott Denison, the Regional Center's managing director.

Barnett and Denison had been friends for 23 years, and the center manager recalled him as a generous man who would perform for friends' celebrations "at the drop of a hat."

"He's a huge, huge loss to the theatrical community and the world in general," he said, recalling Barnett's last public appearance was at January's Shellie Awards.

Cabaret singer and producer Samantha Samuels, who had worked with Barnett for the last decade, underlined the musician's uncanny talent for helping performers work at their highest level.

"He could have gone to New York or L.A. and been very successful, but he chose his life here; he chose his incredibly loving relationship with his wife, and he chose this community," Samuels said. "He was never the big fish in a small pond because he failed somewhere else; he chose to be here because he wanted to be here. The one thing that comforts me is he chose the life he wanted to live, he lived it well, and he is one person who would tell you he was happy, not because his therapist told him to say that, but because he was really happy."

The creative zest he exuded was contagious, friends said.

"He was able to find potential you never believed you could use before, and was able to nurture it and let you believe in yourself to the point where you could succeed," says Dan Uroff of the Willows Theatre.

Uroff said he was grateful that Barnett trusted him to choreograph a production of "Mack and Mabel" almost a decade ago, work that helped launch his career here. "He made you feel OK about taking chances and risks; he always wanted you to do it, to step out of your comfort zone and not be afraid to fail."

No local public services are planned, and the family has asked that donations be made to Fantasy Forum in lieu of flowers. Send donations to The Fantasy Forum at Lesher Center, 1601 Civic Drive, Walnut Creek, CA 94596.

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