Cumbrian Musician, Singer & Songwriter Barry Postlethwaite taught himself how to play the guitar when he was 17 years old. He was influenced by Motown and soul music along with growing up with 50’s Rock’n’Roll, Gene Vincent and Buddy Holly.
However, he didn’t start writing his own songs until 1995 while he was a policeman. His style was influenced by Neil Young, Crowded House and Van Morrison.
After 18 years in the police, he departed in 1998 following a traumatic road accident which caused PTSD, compulsive obsessive behaviour, depression and anxiety. This the worst year of his life, after 6 years of struggle he began to heal when he started getting back into his music and writing songs.
Within a couple of years he wrote over 200 songs and recorded them to cassette tape. After many years he got on with his life and put the music to the side.
In 2016, a near death experience after a serious asthma attack led to two days in the ICU in hospital. After realising life is short, he reconnected with his love of music and started to write again. He revisited the songs he had written twenty years previously and once again the therapeutic experience helped him heal.
In 2017, he released ‘Circle and the Stone’ a collection of the best recorded tracks from his 90’s back catalogue. Then in 2018, he released, “Greetings from East Beach Studios”. This album was mainly an acoustic set featuring sax, lead guitar and keyboards played by local Cumbrian musicians.
Barry deals with his mental health on a daily basis but he thanks his love of music and songwriting for keeping him balanced and healthy. He recently produced a music video which deals with the themes of mental health and has the story of a man dealing with depression, anxiety and feeling misunderstood. The video was filmed before the Coronavirus affected the World and is currently on the official Facebook page.
“The link between creativity and mental health is a complex one. The percentage of very creative people who suffer from various mental health issues is extremely high. For me, the creative juices tend to flow during periods of high stress. Over the years I’ve managed to harness this creativity for the greater good. I hope my story will help others who are struggling to get creative and have an outlet. I also hope my music video makes people feel less alone.”
