BJ Barham Regaled Fans at His St. Louis Concert Saturday Night
— by Carrie Zukoski
Ol’ Red, BJ Barham’s trusty, well-used red Gibson J-45, stood starkly on the bare stage at The Golden Record in south St. Louis patiently waiting for Saturday night’s festivities to begin. Just a few seconds before the clock hit 8 p.m., Barham walked on stage straight for Ol’Red, picked it up and kicked the night off with the somber “The Unfortunate Kind.” He joked he liked to start the night by cleansing it of any fun you may have been having and also about the pronunciation of the word pecan.
See all photos from the night here: https://bit.ly/BJBarham26cz
For about the next two hours, American Aquarium fans were treated to nothing but Barham, aka the frontman of American Aquarium, strumming and plucking Ol’ Red. Barham promised an intimate show with lots of feelings, and that’s exactly what he delivered. This stripped-down (even to the rings on his fingers) singer/songwriter scenario brought a different vibe than that of the energetic, pedal-to-the-metal Americana/alt-country sound of an American Aquarium concert, which resonated with nearly the entire crowd, who hung on every word of every story Barham shared about his songs. Barely 15 minutes into the night, Barham interrupted his own musing to give a group at the back a what for for talking up a storm, saying in part, “I’ve already got your money, the next step will be to have you ejected,” to which the rest of the crowd responded by loudly cheering.
After that bit of housekeeping, the rest of the concert flowed smoothly along with Barham telling eventful stories behind the songs. In fact, the stories were typically two to three times as long as the songs. He shared a colorful story about performing “Lonely Isn’t Easy” at a wedding, a touching story about his wife’s (and eventually his) dog Bueller, nostalgic anecdotes about no air conditioning in cars on hot summer days and dome lights, and somber tales about addiction. He lamented that when he first wrote “The World Is on Fire,” nearly 10 years ago, he never thought it would still be as relevant today.
It’s safe to say Barham will never run out of tales to tell, songs to create, and fans to listen.
The crowd (at least those who listened, not sure the group in the back ever did) left with a new appreciation of and a behind-the-scenes look at many of their favorite American Aquarium songs and eagerly await new songs that Barham hinted were in the making.
Setlist: https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/bj-barham/2026/the-golden-record-st-louis-mo-349edcb.html
See all photos from the night here: https://bit.ly/BJBarham26cz
(Watch this video about Ol’ Red when it was without dings and scratches—which undoubtedly each one has its own story. Note that Barham said he didn’t name guitars; also note the only comment on the video is about St. Louis—that is, fortunately, no longer an issue.)
