To coin an old expression, “The couple that plays together, stays together.”
Jeff Barbra and Sarah Pirkle can certainly attest to that. Their lives, both personally and professionally, are tightly intertwined. Aside from the fact that they’ve hosted the monthly musical program “Behind the Barn” at Bluetick Tavern in Downtown Maryville, they’re also involved with teaching music and fostering appreciation for Appalachian culture and tradition via afterschool and summer programs for young people at the Great Smoky Mountains Heritage Center.
For his part, Barbra has been playing bluegrass music since he was a small child. Pirkle said she was aware of bluegrass, but didn’t pursue it until she was 19.
“A friend of mine loaned me a Bill Monroe CD box set one weekend, and I just fell in love with it,” she said. “The music is so intense, but also so simple because you can play it with just your own two hands. That’s where I learned about Appalachian culture and became so proud of the people and the region that I come from.”
Shortly after they were married in 1997, they pursued their interest in music by opening a music store on East Broadway in Maryville.
“That was an adventure,” Pirkle said. “We learned a lot, and we got a nice guitar and a fiddle out of it before we closed. We also made a lot of friends. Then we started getting gigs around the area and writing songs for the fun of it.”
From that point on, their progress continued. “We entered the MerleFest Chris Austin songwriting contest in 2000 and took first place in the gospel division,” Pirkle noted. She was also honored by being inducted into the East Tennessee Writers Hall of Fame. In 2021, she became a recipient of the Traditional Master Folk Artist Fellowship from South Arts, an organization that focuses on sustainability, momentum, and impact while working to advance Southern vitality through the arts.
The pair began recording in 2000, mostly at their home in Barb Hollow. They’ve released five albums to date: Sweet Creation, Country Music For Country People, Family Singing, Barb Hollow Sessions, and Sarah’s solo album, Walking Tall Through High Weeds. They continue to write and record songs.
These days, the couple are best known for hosting Behind the Barn. The series began in 1998, when Ken Stewart, the manager of Barleys in Knoxville, suggested they start a bluegrass open mic at his restaurant, which is now Bluetick Tavern. Barbra, however, had the idea to take it further.
“He got us involved with WDVX, and we then launched a live concert series called ‘Behind the Barn,’” Pirkle said. “It did very well until 2004. We had some big names play that stage, including Tony Furtado, the John Cowan Band, Chris Knight, Steep Canyon, Rangers, and Yonder Mountain String Band. We went on hiatus for several years until Barleys opened a location in Downtown Maryville in the former home of Roy’s Record Shop. The owner of the restaurant, Randy Burleson, reached out to us to bring the same kind of show to this venue, but this time we worked with radio station WFIV. We were live on the radio every week for years until the pandemic shut down all live music. During that time, WFIV changed its format and went to an all-oldies repertoire. We started back doing Behind the Barn once a month, although not on the radio anymore. We are on the third Thursday of each month, and it’s still fun to get to throw a party for our neighbors and listen to good music!”
She said they choose their guest artists based on what they know their audience will like, and pull from a pool of talent based in East Tennessee, although they also get guests from outside the region from time to time.
“We play apart from Behind the Barn, although the frequency is unpredictable,” Pirkle said. “We get a lot more work in the spring and fall with outdoor events. I also play in a trio called the Naughty Naughts and with my family band, the Pirkles.”
At the same time, the couple put a major focus on music education and cultural awareness. Pirkle became affiliated with Junior Appalachian Musicians Inc., an organization that provides communities with the tools they need to teach children to play and dance to traditional old-time and bluegrass music.
“The connection was established by way of the Great Smoky Mountains Heritage Center in 2023, when I was hired to be the fiddle instructor,” she said. “Shortly thereafter, I was named Program Director, and I have been ever since. It’s a program for fourth through eighth graders, and we provide instruments if they don’t have their own. Plus, we employ three local musicians as the instructors.”
Pirkle’s devotion to the program is obvious.
“I think it’s important to keep the Appalachian tradition alive in music because it’s an inherent part of our heritage and it’s truly an American art form as much as any other,” she said. “I love teaching these old tunes and also hearing the new ones that are created in this tradition. It’s a living tradition, and I love bringing the kids along for the ride so they can carry it on and have pride of place.”
As for the future, the couple hope to record a song Pirkle wrote several years ago that’s based on a phrase that she heard Yassin Terou of Yassin’s Falafel House say when his restaurant was voted “Nicest Place in America” by “Good Morning America.”
“He was on national television answering the question, ‘What’s it like being a Syrian refugee in Knoxville Tennessee?’” she said. “And one of the things he said was, ’It’s a life, not a fight.’ That’s the name of this song. It’s about connecting over food, because we all gotta eat! It’s a great way to show people that you love and care about them when you cook something good.”
Catch the Junior Appalachian Musicians concert at Kids Take Over the Museum Day at Great Smoky Mountains Heritage Center, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, May 9. Info: https://gsmheritagecenter.org/event/kids-take-over-the-museum-2/
Behind the Barn takes place every third Thursday, 7 p.m., at Bluetick Tavern in Maryville.
