Since 2011, progressive acoustic band The Barefoot Movement has been recording and touring internationally, winning the 2014 IBMA momentum award, and releasing three studio albums as well as a live album, a holiday album, two EP’s, and a covers collection.  They’ve been a tight knit group of four, with a loyal fan base in the bluegrass world.  But when the pandemic brought their momentum to a halt, the four-piece ensemble began to fragment, with bandmates moving in different directions during the forced hiatus. 

The Barefoot Movement co-founders and married couple Noah Wall and Tommy Norris found themselves facing a decision in regard to the band; to call it quits, or to bring it through a renaissance and find a new way forward.  “Tommy and I started this band with a vision to be the ‘Fleetwood Mac’ of bluegrass”, explains Wall “in the sense that it would be a true four-piece band with multiple lead singers…I never talked publicly about Tommy and I being a couple, because I wanted to give every member we recruited their own identity within our band, and it wasn’t just about Tommy and I, that wasn’t important.”  

But the change turned into a new beginning for Wall and Norris, who are taking the opportunity to step out as the band’s front people, and further explore the possibilities of what The Barefoot Movement could be.  “It feels like the end of that Fleetwood Mac dream, but it has also challenged Tommy and me to get comfortable with sharing ourselves, and all of the different influences that we share both within and outside of Bluegrass. Historically, the songs we’ve recorded were primarily mine and Tommy’s, but co-arranged by whatever members we had at the time, so that had a big influence on which songs we chose to work up. But now that it’s back to just the two of us, I think we are finally ready to tell our story.”

Norris and Wall met in high school in Granville County, North Carolina, where Wall was involved in theater and also played the fiddle.  Norris had a rock band, and asked Wall to sing with them.  “I said no”, she laughs, “I was just too busy at the time!”.  But when Norris later brought a guitar to English class and performed as part of a school project, Wall was immediately taken by his abilities.  “I wrote him a seven-page letter begging him to play music with me”, she says.  Thus, the original barefoot movement was born.

Years and many life experiences later, the couple has found themselves right back at their beginnings; exploring the music they can make together as a duo, and with a hired band behind them.  The result is the triumphant “Let It Out”, a collection of original songs penned and performed by Wall and Norris, joined by many friends and guests, including former bandmates Katie Blomarz (bass), Alex Conerly (guitar), and current touring guitarist Ben Howington. 

“‘Let It Out’ is about acknowledging your challenges so that you can get through them”, explains Wall, “And it pertains to a lot of what we’ve been going through as a band and as people, not only being vulnerable personally but also musically, allowing ourselves to explore the rock and roll influences we’ve been hesitant to let show prior to this album”. 

“Say what you need to say/ Feel what you need to feel/ But get out of your own way/ If you wanna heal/ Go on and let it out, let it out/ So you can let it go…” sings Wall, over an indie rock influenced mandolin and drum groove.  The song has more in common with The Killers than Bill Monroe, yet it is performed on primarily acoustic instruments.  “We both love bluegrass and roots music in general, but our first musical love was rock and roll…” explains Wall,  “I was in the Pearl Jam Fan Club when I was 4, and Tommy’s first instrument was the drums… so I think on this new record, with the space to explore and experiment, we allowed those influences to exist in the same space as our traditional influences.”

The new album also sees the band's songwriting turn inward, revealing more vulnerable aspects of the couple’s relationship.  “Hold On to the Flame” interrogates the changing nature of romantic love over time, and “If I Don’t Get Out Now”, is about Wall’s cold feet before her marriage to Norris.  “It was always going to be him”, she laughs, “but that feeling was very real in the moment that I wrote that song.”

There often comes a time when one has to choose to either bend or break, to find a new path, or to give up.  Armed with newfound freedom, The Barefoot Movement is a band transformed, and the change, however painful, has propelled the band into a new era.  “There’s a lot of songs on this record that I didn’t feel ready to share before,” says Wall, “but I think we’re finally ready now to let ‘em out.”

- Rachel Baiman