This is just too sad. I first met Barry at a singing session in an upstairs room at a Boston pub in '98 or '99, which Barry told me about after Riggy introduced me to him through email. He sang "London Julie," which was new to me, and I was really taken by the soul he put into it. We spent some time talking, singing, having dinner on one of his forays to the SF Bay Area, and he always had such interesting and pointed things to say about singing and the music scene, such as his dislike of singing sessions revolving around RUS, which he called "Rise Up Screaming." He was a storehouse of West Indies and African American work songs. In 2001 he participated in a festival workshop at SF Maritime National Historical Park on "Chanteys cousins: Work songs from ashore," and, as he had done so many times, just enthralled the audience with the power and soul of his singing. With his permission, I named a newsletter from SF Maritime after his CD; "Fathom This!" We had just emailed each other about a week and a half ago, about Ken Schatz joining him and Neil, and about possibly coming to SF next year. I got to see him rarely, but I will miss him. He was a great guy.

What a tremendous influence he was on chantey singing. Go to a festival or chantey sing, and you will most likely hear "I learned this one from Barry Finn."

Chanteyranger