You can catch Barber with his band, BoogiTherapi, on the LaZoom Bus on Friday, May 17, at 5:30 p.m. He’s also playing Sierra Nevada in Mills River on Sunday, May 26, at 7 p.m.

You can catch Barber with his band, BoogiTherapi, on the LaZoom Bus on Friday, May 17, at 5:30 p.m. He’s also playing Sierra Nevada in Mills River on Sunday, May 26, at 7 p.m.
Friends and band mates encouraged Ryan RnB Barber. “They told me, ‘People really need to hear your type of r&b and hip-hop funk right now,’” he says.
Barber’s new album, Rejuvenation, will be released Saturday, April 20.
“We believe that building healthy communities requires education, but that to sustain and uplift those healthy communities you need to ensure education is fun, authentic and organic,” says Morgan Markowitz, Xpand Fest’s operations director.
“The whole point of this event is to build community,” says Juan Holladay. “To really do that, you have to involve young musicians as well, because that’s as local as it gets.”
From purple suits to singing eyeballs to handfuls of gold glitter, the song dips and sways for four-plus minutes and does a fine job of showcasing Barber’s prowess as a songwriter, front man and funk force.
The Mountain Soul Party will feature plenty of room on the dance floor. Coupled with the venue’s well-regarded acoustics, that open space should make for an uptempo evening.