The University of Vermont's Independent Voice Since 1883

The Vermont Cynic

The University of Vermont's Independent Voice Since 1883

The Vermont Cynic

The University of Vermont's Independent Voice Since 1883

The Vermont Cynic

The Barefoot Truth: They “love life”

“Balsamic dressing and extra ranch on the side” are not the typical glamorous, hotel trashing or out of control demands of a successful band.

But this is exactly what was demanded of Sodexho prior to Barefoot Truth’s Feb. 13 show in the Davis Center.

As far from typical as that may sound, that is Barefoot Truth.

“We love playing at colleges,” lead vocalist and guitarist Jay Driscoll said. As far as social networking, it’s much less than a random scene like a club. UVM’s been great to us.”

Getting their start in college, and playing on the weekends, the band took to touring on their own before getting a tour manager, said bassist Andy Wrba.

Their UVM set included songs off their recent album, “Walk Softly,” and some tunes from their soon to be released, “All Good Reasons.”

“We even had a demo tape that we recorded, it was an actual cassette tape,” Driscoll said.

The band recently launched freebft.com, where fans can download their music for free. Lead singer, drummer and guitarist Will Evans said that they acquired this idea from Pete Francis, formerly of Dispatch, when he pioneered the idea with the help of Napster.

“People get your music for free and then they go to the shows and support your music,” Evans said.

Pete Francis has supported the band since they did an EP together last year and, after, thought it would be “fun to do a tour.”

They work as a perfect team; Driscoll jokes, “everything he’s done we just do it too.”

The band fits in well at a green university like UVM. For the past year they have been donating one percent of their profits to “One percent for the Planet,” doing their part to alleviate the carbon footprint, Driscoll said.

Their music matches their philosophy on life. “If there could be one thing everyone who listened to us took away with them, I would hope that they recognize how much we love life,” Evans said.

“As short as our time may be, we’re just trying to make the most of it,” he said.

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The Barefoot Truth: They “love life”