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Music Musings

Music Musings: Bruce “Sunpie” Barnes

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Hundreds of years ago, as European society awoke from the Dark Ages and launched into a period of unprecedented creativity, they formulated an ideal that we carry strongly with us today.  A Renaissance Man was someone who could seemingly do and exceed at anything they tried.  In the style of scientist, painter, sculptor and philosopher Leonardo da Vinci, it was a person that society held up as a supreme achiever in several fields.  Even today, so many of our music and movie stars strive for this legacy, but only a precious few actually reach it to become Renaissance Men and Women.

And then there are those that have been on that path for their whole life.  As this incredible feature article by Dave Ramsey of the Arkansas Times notes, if there was ever a candidate for that title in the 21st Century, it would be musician, park ranger, former NFL player, alligator wrestler, and actor Bruce “Sunpie” Barnes (full disclosure… he’s also my uncle) .  Here’s a snippet from the feature, but it’s definitely worth a read of the whole thing…

When Bruce “Sunpie” Barnes arrived in New Orleans almost 20 years ago, he felt an uncanny recognition when he heard people speaking Creole French.

“I picked it up right away,” Barnes said. “When I was a kid I used to have all these dreams in Creole. I didn’t know what it was, I just knew it was some kind of different language. When I moved to Louisiana, I knew.”

Barnes has always been attuned to dreams. He was born in Benton in 1963 under a prophet sign, according to his grandmother, a Louisiana-born “fix-it lady” who did traditional healings and read stars for people in their community. “She told me I would have dreams and visions, and she taught me how to interpret them,” Barnes said. Laughing, he added, “and she told me not everyone would believe me, or understand.”

Whatever the cause, it’s hard to deny that Barnes has found his path. Nowadays the boy who used to dream in Creole in Benton sings in Creole in New Orleans as one of the most prominent musicians in zydeco, a traditional music form originating in southwest Louisiana. Barnes — a multi-instrumentalist who plays accordion, harmonica, rub board, piano, talking drum and more — fronts Sunpie and the Louisiana Sunspots. Though Sunpie is a popular mainstay on the zydeco circuit, Barnes’ music isn’t contained by a single genre — he mixes in Delta blues, gospel, boogie woogie, R&B, and West African and Caribbean influences. He calls it “Afro-Louisiana.”

Barnes, in addition to being a musician and composer, is a naturalist, a full-time National Park ranger, a black-and-white portrait photographer, a television and film actor and a former professional football player with the Kansas City Chiefs.

“I’m not interested in being restricted,” Barnes said. “I’m interested in life.”

Interested in life isn’t even the half of it with Barnes.  He’s living life as full and great as possibly anyone on the planet.  After just completing a national tour with musical legends Sting and Paul Simon, Barnes is back home playing capacity crowds in and around the Crescent City.  You also may have caught him on HBO’s tv series Treme.  But wherever the wind takes him, Sunpie definitely knows how to bring the house down.  Be on the lookout for him!!

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Arkansas: ACA ‘Private Option’ Still In Jeopardy

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In 2013 Arkansas lawmakers made a solemn promise to the state’s people. They crafted a landmark compromise to cooperate with the Affordable Care Act, and bring life-saving healthcare options to hundreds of thousands of Arkansans. What resulted was Arkansas’ Private Option… a deal that that uses ACA money originally meant to expand Medicaid, but instead covers citizens through the health insurance marketplace.

Before the plan was enacted, I had my reservations about this plan over just using Medicaid… especially if it could be applied to other states like Texas. But after a few months in, one thing is clear. The Private Option is a rousing success. Over 100,000 people have enrolled in healthcare plans, reducing the state’s uninsured population by one fifth in just four short months. Enrollment has been surprisingly swift, with hundreds, if not thousands of new enrollees coming from every one of the state’s 75 counties. It doesn’t matter if the county is politically red or blue, everyone needs healthcare.

It’s not just the new enrollees that benefit. For Arkansans that were already receiving Medicare and Medicaid, the ACA and Private Option increased their quality of care by lowering costs of prescription medications for patients, and providing new benefits such as wellness visits, dental and optical care, and even partnership with fitness centers to promote wellness. With fewer uninsured patients to see, the expansion saves money for the state government and lessens the burden on hospitals. The more than $90 million dollars in savings will be used to give Arkansas families a tax cut. I am convinced that this is a model that would work well for larger states like Texas and Florida.

Sadly, all of these monumental achievements are in jeopardy. Though passed in the Senate, a faction of 27 Republican legislators in the Arkansas State House have voted repeatedly to not only kick those one hundred thousand people off of their health insurance, but also raise taxes for Arkansas families and businesses. The only word that can describe one’s reasoning for such a vote is lunacy. Here’s more from David Ramsey of the Arkansas Times…

For some, politics come into play, but those in the hardcore opposition – the Ballingers and the Hendrens – have sincerely held reasons for that belief. I certainly do not think that they wish to kick 100,000 people off of coverage out of spite, or lack of care. They simply believe that the private option is bad public policy.

But the outcome of their preferred policy — ending the private option — is precisely to kick 100,000 people off of the coverage they’ve gained this year through the private option, and to ensure that around 100,000 more eligible people never gain that coverage at all. It’s time for opponents to own that.

If there was ever a time for public pressure at the Arkansas state capitol, that time is now. These greedy politicians need to know that the Private Option is literally a matter of life and death. People across the state are able to go to the doctor for the first time in years. They now have peace of mind that if they face some serious illness, their family won’t have to endure financial ruin just to care for them. Many people have the potential to live longer and healthier lives because of the grand bargain crafted Little Rock. For everyone in Arkansas, I sincerely hope this isn’t thrown away.

(photo credit: Arkansas Times)