'Cheating Song' was the first ever Down To Fumes collaboration between Barry and Paul.

Cheating Song

'Death By 1000 Cuts' is one of a dozen or so songs that Barry wrote with Lucy LeBlanc this past summer.  Paul heard the demo the next day and instinctively played along - a rolling finger picking style acoustic - in a take or two. It was all the song needed. 

Death By 1000 Cuts

Somehow the needle stays above empty and like every good movie there’s a gas station up ahead ...

For more information visit http://downtofumes.com
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Sunbelly Records - fresh music for the ages. http://sunbellymusic.com

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Barry Muir spent a lifetime recording and performing with three of Canada’s darling bands; Payola$, Barney Bentall and the Legendary Hearts, and The Blue Shadows. He was a mainstay in the Saskatoon music scene before moving to Vancouver to play bass for Maurice & the Cliches, appearing on the album C’est La Vie and in the video for Soft-core. He was recruited by Bob Rock and appears on Hammer on a Drum, a quadruple platinum record. Payola$ won four Juno Awards including Most Promising Group of the Year, and Barry was nominated as bass player of the year for the Juno All Star Band. He toured North America appearing in several music videos including Eyes of a Stranger, Romance, and Live at Massey Hall. Barry is also featured on Barney Bentall and the Legendary Hearts self-titled, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and Greatest Hits albums which have reached gold and platinum status, winning a Juno Award for Most Promising Group of the Year. He has appeared live and in video and film performances on Something To Live For, Come Back To Me, Life Could Be Worse, and Crime Against Love, in addition to Much Music specials Live From The Diamond Club, Daytona Spring Break, and the My American Boyfriend movie. As a member of The Blue Shadows, Barry appeared on the Lucky to Me album which was Juno-nominated for Best New Country Band, and on The Blue Shadows on the Floor of Heaven re-release double album. He appeared live and in videos for Don’t Expect A Reply, Trouble With Trouble, Let The Cowboy’s Ride, and Deliver Me, as well as on Musicworks with Alanis Morisette (half-hour special on CBC TV), and in a feature documentary on the Cowsills’ Family Band. Barry also appears on local albums including Ocean View Mo-tel (Mae Moore), Tripping Up the Stairs (Spirit of the West) and countless others. He performs locally, most recently with Payola$ band-mates Rock and Chris Taylor, also a member of the DTF touring band. His recent solo re-leases include The Only, California, and Surest Comfort which have received local airplay on CBC in four provinces and positive reviews in local media. When Barry was in a motorcycle crash that left him badly injured he had plenty of time to write and record songs while recovering, mostly just with an acoustic guitar and vocal track. During this time he met local songwriter Devra Epstein whose stories quickly became songs and the production started to blossom.

Paul Tobin is a Canadian singer/songwriter who has spent a lifetime writing music. His songs reflect his life, and musical influences: “My major influences are many. One of my first - and I know this is cliche - but I have to say Johnny Cash, simply because of that album cover, Walk the Line, with him all in black walking down the railway track. I was about six years old at the time. He looked dangerous, and he was going somewhere. I wanted to know where. Later on, Bruce Cockburn was a knockout punch for me. As an acoustic player he opened a lot of doors previously locked! Later on in my musical journey I found artists like BB King, Clarence 'Gatemouth' Brown, Luther 'Guitar Jr. ' Johnson, Big Dave McLean - who was a massive influence - Bob Marley, J.J. Cale, John Hiatt, Lyle Lovett and many unknown players that I've had the pleasure of playing with, or just listening to, over the years." Paul has had the pleasure to perform with or open for such artists as KD Lang, The Wailers, David Wilcox, Paul Janz, Valdy, Ian Tyson, Jan Arden, Gaye Delorme, Brian Plummer, Macario, Eddy Clearwater, Keb Mo, Stampeders, Clarence ‘Gatemouth’ Brown, Eddy Shaw, Big Dave McLean, Long John Baldry, and so many other great artists at festivals & con-certs across Canada! Currently, Paul is writing a solo album to add to his other two efforts All Night Blue and Lois Lane Sessions. Paul spent last winter in Mexico writing & performing at various venues & festivals. After he returned to Vancouver, his melodic guitar style fell easily into the mix of Barry’s writing to create a sound that is in full bloom of rock, country, and pop.

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When you’re down to fumes all that’s left is the nervous excitement of not knowing for sure if you will make it over the next hump or even what’s beyond that hump. You take a deep breath and follow your heart along unknown roads. You’ve done this before and somehow you know everything will work out in the end like it always does. So you take in the serenity and the beauty of it all. You feel the sun in your face as you glide along gentle curves towards the horizon.  A peace comes over you. There’s nothing planned, just this journey where any side road can lead you to an entirely different place. You know what risk is and you thrive off it. There are people ahead you’ll come to know that you haven’t met yet. There are places and faces that will stick in your mind forever. As each day passes, you’re one day closer to the end so you take it all in and soak up every moment. The sweetness of the country air feeds your spirit. Somehow your needle stays above empty and like every good movie there’s a gas station up ahead. We’re down to fumes.  

Down To Fumes is set for release October 1, 2014. The album of eleven songs take you on a journey that every-one can relate to, from Supermarket - hearing your favorite songs played while you fill your shopping cart; Serial Kisser, a Halloween treat with a twist; Ponytail, do you miss the way I joke with you, the way I pull your ponytail? Long Lost Years; two middle aged women on the loose trying to make up for lost time; Down To Fumes, a story of anxiety with a happy ending; There’s A Party, and I’m going; Predator, best of luck, pack up that truck; There Was A Time, with no worries hanging with friends by the lakeside; Someone Like You, I’ve been searching a long time for; Cheating Song, ah huh! And finally to Death By 1000 Cuts, how every little thing hurts after love has gone wrong.
