Willie Barry was born decades after “the day the music died” — but he’ll be playing a big part in a popular tribute to the Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper, who were killed in a plane crash, near Clear Lake, Iowa, more than 60 years ago.
“The crash was in 1959, I was born in 1994,” said Barry. “You can do the math on that one.”
Sixty-three years after that fateful day in music history, Barry, his band The Rock-A-Sonics, and a dozen other local musicians will be taking part in the 19th annual Winter Dance Party, on Saturday, March 12, at Rosensteel Hall in Silver Spring, Maryland, for a show produced by the After Dark Fund and Louie Newmyer.
Acknowledging he’s out of sync, musically, with other 27-year-olds, Barry said the music of Holly, Valens and J.P. Richardson’s Big Bopper stands the test of time. “It’s relatable, the musicianship is very good, and the instrumentation is really top-notch on a lot of those records.”
