Press Reviews;

Jamie Barnes' third album continues in his established vein of reflective, accomplished folk-rock recorded at home -- and if the evidence of opening track "Vampire Movie" is any indication, his ear for excellent self-production has only improved. From his warm voice to the way the piano softly nestles in the corner of the mix, this is as far from the rough-edged world of lo-fi as can be imagined, and if that's an aesthetic crime in some minds, more importantly it demonstrates that the ability to create an elegant, high-end album is no longer the realm of an overpriced studio. Once again being his own one-man band -- the one guest appearance on "Day That Cuts Till Dawn" is John Burgess Ross on mandolin and accordion -- Barnes' compositions effortlessly suggest contemplative warmth, spiritual ruminations and calm storytelling with hints of drama. It can be in the way that songs can suddenly end, or Barnes' ear for a great arrangement (check out the pure Lee Hazlewood theatrics on "Hell's Adopted Mile"). Sometimes it's all in the absolutely gripping subject matter -- "Song for the Mofa Seven," discussing the attempts of a group of North Korean refugees who desperately tried and failed to gain asylum, and who have since gone missing after arrest in China, is all the more harrowing for its absolute, gentle calm. Occasionally some moments can be a bit abstruse -- "Conflict Diamond" is an evocative phrase but doesn't quite succeed at the balance of winsome and mystic it would in the hands of, say, Marc Bolan. But these are small concerns set aside the lovely flow of the album -- Barnes is building a quiet but notable legacy with his work, and The Recalibrated Heart is another strong success. - Ned Ragget, The All-Music Guide

Louisville-based folk-pop singer/songwriter Jamie Barnes' third album The Recalibrated Heart is instantly marked by a clean, crisp sound – an especially refined version of his distinctly humble, hum-able, and hushed style of introspection. Other instruments subtly add to the voice-and-guitar set-up, expanding the palette (as his last LP did from the one before it), but in a thoughtful and not over-reaching way. And his voice and guitar alone shine, as well. His last two albums probed the shadows of one person's soul in a way, looking into inner conflicts and confusion. This album is just as probing, yet right from the start seems more attuned to the world around us, to social justice issues. The first few songs all unite personal fitting-in-the-world issues with global tales of struggle – with songs set in North Korea ("Song for the Mofa Seven") and Africa ("Conflict Diamond") – and add to that a filter of Biblical tales and spiritual journeying. The lyrical scope is even wider than that implies, though, with personal relationships of course playing a role; and there's an intriguing song about R.E.M. that starts with Bill Berry's brain aneurysm ("Violet Morning"). Every subject matter is handled deftly, poetic yet direct, with an emphasis on humanity. Singer/songwriters may come a dime a dozen, but those who mark their own distinct mark, as Jamie Barnes does, deserve our utmost attention. – dave heaton, Erasing Clouds

While the bias of having seen Jamie Barnes perform the night of my marriage proposal — making him the last artist I saw perform as a single man — undoubtedly informs each listen of the Louisville singer/songwriter’s latest offering, it's probably important to note that I chose to make one of his shows part of my engagement.

I first heard the soothing indie-folk stylings of Jamie Barnes several months earlier on a date when he was opening for Over the Rhine. The song "Conflict Diamond" in particular left the kind of lasting impression rarely achievable by an unknown guy or gal with a guitar (see Barnes' opening act in October and Over the Rhine's Christmas show opener for opposite examples).

Vocally, lyrically and musically engaging, Barnes has quickly come to represent for me the kind of friendly hometown hero of Louisville that Denison Witmer is for me back home in Philadelphia. Unlike Witmer, who he can certainly be compared to stylistically, Barnes' words more often evoke deeper imagery and literary substance. That's not a knock on Witmer, who explores love, loss and friendship with the best of them, so much as it is a tip of the hat to the way Barnes avoids the cliché singer-songwriter traps of so many of his peers.

Take the album's opener, "Vampire Movie," for example. The song takes you from George Washington crossing the Delaware to a movie production company with its fake teeth and fake blood being run out of town as an internal conflict – "is it wrong or right to go along?" – is wrestled.
Much of the album follows that pattern with Barnes weaving tender acoustic instrumentation with soothing vocals and complex lyrics that leave the listener to interpret a range of feelings and emotions.
Hardly a new record – the first pressing released even a year before my engagement – "The Recalibrated Heart" is a fine introduction to an artist who, three albums in, has the songwriting prowess to be more than just an artist folks in Louisville go to see at a coffee shop. - Matthew Ralph, Tangzine

Be forewarned: listening to this release through headphones or ear buds while reclining on any kind of soft furniture will cause you to fall deep into a trance, the kind where you feel someone has just uncorked a hole in your psyche you didn't know you had. And a lot of the stressors, anxieties, petty annoyances, defenses, stuff that holds you to impossible schedules or binds you to people you force yourself to get along with, all just leak out a little at a time. You're left open and vulnerable. The music just slips inside. And you let yourself go.

Yeah, sometimes that can happen, when the boundaries just vanish for a moment and something kind just sweeps in and reminds you of how human you are and all that implies. You can get your chance to get that feeling for yourself with two incredibly relaxing and easygoing releases from Louisville musicians: The Recalibrated Heart from Jamie Barnes and After the Rain from the band Arnett Hollow.

Heart is Barnes's third full release (not counting his online-only EP Paper Crane from last year). It is, frankly and without hyperbole, gorgeous, lush, adventurous, hypnotic, sensuous, full of love and sense and sincerity. The sound throughout Heart, with one exception, is generally slow-tempo and gentle, but the songs themselves do not drag. There's always just enough to savor before the next track plays.

Barnes gives us his first gentle love tap with the steady percussion of tambourine and castanet and ambient, echoey flute in "Vampire Movie." He then moves into topical songs with "Conflict Diamond" and "Song For the Mofa Seven," about the seven North Koreans who tried to defect to China by rushing the gate of its embassy in August 2002. In "Hell's Adopted Mile," Barnes roughens up the sound a little bit with fuzzed-out, reverbed guitar and a growling Hammond B3 in the background and he talks of a place where there are fly-infested fruit stands and a man with eyes rolled back in his head like a slot machine. You feel like you need to dust yourself off when the song is over.

There's a deep spiritual strain in all the songs on Heart and Barnes doesn't hide it. It's not specifically a recording of Christian music. Several of the songs mention God with reverence and a touch of praise and that keeps Heart's spiritual themes at a comfortable level. - Tim Roberts, Louisville Music News