Bobby Bare Jr. has been a guitarist and backing vocalist in Guided by Voices since 2016, when Robert Pollard assembled the band’s current lineup alongside fellow guitarist Doug Gillard, bassist Mark Shue, and drummer Kevin March.
Born and raised in Nashville, Bare Jr. is the son of outlaw country singer Bobby Bare and grew up inside a working songwriter’s world; Shel Silverstein, a close collaborator of his father’s, offered early, hands-on critique of his songs. In his mid-twenties, he took up guitar and developed his own voice across a run of solo records and early-2000s releases with his band Bare Jr.
He first encountered GBV at the turn of the millennium, catching the band at South by Southwest and diving into the catalog. Years later, after hosting the Pollards in Nashville following the dissolution of the “so-called classic lineup,” he got the call to join.
Since then, Bare Jr. has played on a run of albums from the 2017 double album August by Cake — to which he contributed “High Five Hall of Famers” and “Upon the Circus Bus” — through to the forthcoming Crawlspace of the Pantheon, learning close to 300 songs along the way.
On Crawlspace and its 2025 predecessor, Thick Rich and Delicious, his contributions have centered on backing vocals, worked out directly with Pollard and tracked phrase by phrase in the studio.
In this conversation, Bare Jr. discusses his path into the band, how he learned its catalog and internal vocabulary, and what a decade inside Guided by Voices has required of him as a player and songwriter.
Click here to pre-order Crawlspace of the Pantheon.
What’s new, Bobby?
I had five guys from Dayton, Ohio, stay at my place two weekends ago, and Bob and Mark were two of them. We drank beer and ate chicken wings while watching NCAA basketball for over six hours each day. We went to Grimey’s for vinyl and did shots at Duke’s and watched four GBV tribute bands play Bob’s songs at the Basement on 8th Avenue. My kids got to hang out too!
Amazing. Family’s good?
Yeah, my kids live nearby, so we do a lot of stuff. My youngest son is a freshman in high school in downtown Nashville at Hume-Fogg, the same school where Bettie Page was voted “Most Likely to Succeed.” My oldest son is studying music at Middle Tennessee State University.
My daughter lives here in East Nashville, and is the princess of East Nashville. Like, she’s as involved as a 21-year-old can be in Hipsterville, Tennessee.
Is she a socialite? Hitting the honky-tonks?
Oh, yeah, we have a thing called Honky Tonk Tuesday where everybody pretends it’s 1958 on Hee Haw, and they’re all dancing the Texas two-step. She loves doing that.
How’s your old man?
He was great yesterday, him and my mom. He’s doing better than he was a year ago. It’s crazy how it comes and goes, it comes and goes.
Tell me about your approach to backing vocals. You grew up around the Grand Ole Opry, so you come from a deep tradition on that front.
Yeah, Bob said what he learned in that if somebody was a briar, meaning a hillbilly, they’re usually really good at harmonies. So, I think that’s what he’s counting on me for — to be the briar who can figure out the harmonies.
But he coaches me the whole time. We watch him do all of his vocals at Rockathon, and then he’ll take a break, and then I go over and stand next to him, and he coaches me through every phrase, every syllable.
So he has those parts locked with everything else.
He has all the ideas, he has everything, yeah. And then, every once in a while, I’ll say, “Hey, I’ve got an idea here.” And he’ll listen to it, and he might use it. But I get to put some ideas in sometimes.
Now I’m wracking my brain on the backing vocals through the back catalog.
He’s usually singing them. Sometimes I’m singing them up until these last two albums, but he usually does his own harmonies. Sometimes I would send him ideas — just little snippet things — and he would use them or not use them.
So, it’s all over the place. Sometimes I’d send them all my ideas and they just didn’t fit that album. Or sometimes I’d send all my ideas and he’d go, “Yes, [producer] Travis [Harrison], put all those in.”
How many stacks do you typically do?
We usually double it. I guess we’ve done three-part harmonies, but usually I’m doing something above or below them, then I’ll double that exact thing — just because it sounds prettier when you double your vocals.
“I am quail and quasar” [from “Subspace Biographies,” from Pollard’s 1998 solo album Waved Out] — that has a second harmony in it that’s really amazing.
Sometimes, when Doug and I were doing it live, we put a third up on top. Usually, on that song, Doug would come in and do Bob’s part, and Bob would go up and start doing the harmony. And live, sometimes, he would do his own harmony, and I’d have to fill in the main vocal. Sometimes, he really wants to do a harmony, and it’s amazing. He can really get up there.
I saw your solo band open for GBV in 2014. How did that transition to joining the band?
Bob and Sarah came and visited Nashville after the classic lineup stopped playing. They came and hung out with my kids, and I showed them Nashville and the Country Music Hall of Fame and just had a great hang. Bob didn’t know if he was gonna play again or not. Then, a week or so later, Bob called and asked if I wanted to be the guitar player.
Was that emotional for you? That must have whammed you.
Oh, yeah. It’s like, you know, I’ve been doing this forever, and I have a lot of friends in really amazing rock bands. Now, I get to be one — wow, I’m being called up to the big leagues.
Once you joined the band, I remember saying hi to you in the lobby and asking how you were: “How am I? I’m in Guided by Voices!”
Yeah, no matter what’s happening in the band, I always say, “Am I still in the band? Yeah? OK, yeah? Cool. Whatever.”
I’ve played with many excellent musicians, but I don’t think I’ve ever fully experienced being in a rock band — the platonic ideal of one.
I mean, yeah, Nashville doesn’t have many bands. But also, in Nashville, everybody’s in the same band. One week, my bass player or keyboard player will be in my band, and then next week, we’re doing a Christmas show and I’m in their band. We’re all in each other’s bands. But a band like Guided by Voices is a band band. Or, at least, for the last 11 years it has been.
My hotshot band that I was touring, opening up — all those guys are in some of the best bands on earth now. Everybody’s in Bob Dylan’s band or in arenas with Sturgill Simpson. I don’t know if you remember Jerry [Pentecost], the drummer with white sunglasses and dreads — he was in Bob Dylan’s band for the last three or four years, and then he quit that and joined Soul Asylum.
And Robbie [Crowell], who is the keyboard player, has been in Sturgill Simpson’s band for the last year, and he’s got a new Sturgill Simpson record [Mutiny After Midnight, under the name Johnny Blue Skies]. And then Kai [Welch], the keyboard player, is in a band called the Fray.
How did you first get into GBV?
I didn’t get into GBV until ‘99 or 2000, and once I found out, I was furious with my friends who are big fans. They know what I love — how could they not introduce me to them?
I saw them at South by Southwest, I think in 2000, going on after Nashville Pussy, and it was unbelievable. Like, Nashville Pussy was, you know, a six-foot-six woman in stacks [then-bassist Corey Parks], blowing fire — just an incredible rock band.
I was like, How could Guided by Voices follow this? And then Guided by Voices came out and destroyed the universe. It was absolutely amazing.
They had all Mesa/Boogie rental gear [chuckles]. I remember that. The two guitar amps they had were rented Dual Rectifiers, which is pretty cool.
What struck you about the set?
The songs. The songs and the joy. It feels like church, you know? You get that revival-meeting feeling in your gut, and that just doesn’t happen at other rock shows.
Did you ever go to revivals as a kid?
Yeah, there was a woman named Solana who lived in our house and helped raise us. She would take us to her church, which was an all-black revival meeting church, and I would do those. I went to that a couple of times, and, yeah, those were lively.
Then we move into the 2000s — what happens?
Well, I thought I was a really big fan — I listened to more Guided by Voices than anything else. And then I got to be in the band and open up and stuff, and I realized I’m not a big fan at all. [Laughs] I was such a piddling fan, even though I love this band more than any band. I got to meet the other fans, and I was like, Oh my god, I’ve gotta catch up somehow.
You’ve obviously caught up since then.
I’ve learned so much just by listening to Bob tell stories, and hearing Doug tell stories. I think Mark or Travis counted 280-something songs we’ve learned since being in the band. Maybe more than that — all the new songs and new albums and what we played live.
On one hand, I’m sure the majority of these songs aren’t rocket science on rhythm guitar. On the other, they require 110% follow-through and commitment.
Doug teaches me everything. Doug shows me everything. I mean, I never played a song in a band that I didn’t create. So, there’s lots of things that I didn’t really know how to play, and Doug knows every Bob-ism and everything Bob would do when he hears the demos, and then Doug teaches me that.
I’m very grateful that Doug held my hand and helped me play. Mostly, I’m playing stuff so Doug and can do solos and stuff. A lot of why I’m there is so when Doug goes and does parts, there’s still a rhythm guitar underneath.
Without revealing too much, what are some of those Bob-isms on the neck?
There’s a lot of A — or, as I call it, a two-finger A — up and down the neck. There’s a lot of what we call “minus ones,” where you’re holding a barre chord and you just move your pointer finger down a half step while your ring finger stays in the spot.
But I’ve never had to chart songs, so I had to come up with my own way of charting Bob-isms, which would be like a D position on the seventh fret kind of thing.
A lot of private shedding, or just intuition in the moment, listening?
Mostly, Doug would send me videos of what to do. I was raised to be a songwriter, so nobody’s ever hired me to be a guitar player for any reason. So, the fact that Bob asked me to play guitar was a real adventure.
I’m sure you studied their old guitar players, pre-Doug.
Well, I mean, to learn songs like “My Kind of Soldier,” I would watch videos of Nate [Farley] to figure out what he was playing while Doug was playing his stuff. So, the best way to learn stuff was to watch Nate. I didn’t always play it just like him, but I was understanding at least what he was doing.
And then, sometimes, I had a simpler version that I would do. Or I’d ask Doug, and Doug would decipher things and send me a video.
Maybe mirroring what Tobin [Sprout] was doing on any particular song.
I saw him a lot — and I don’t remember having to watch one of his videos, although I love his playing. I got to know him pretty well when we were on tour. But Doug mostly showed me what to do. Or, at least, he’d show me what he needed me to do, you know. Because he knows what Bob wants and what will not distract Bob.
Then, after your 10th or 11th album together, the forms get more complicated.
I mean, there were songs that would have six parts that never repeat.
Was that an adjustment, in the most positive sense of the word?
I can’t tell you how often I’m on stage and I have no idea what the next section of the song is about. I see it coming, I have no idea what’s going to happen here, and I look down, and my hand goes to the exact right spot through muscle memory. It’s like watching a ghost creep into your left hand and just do the right thing.
But it’s from, I call it, study hall — sitting on the couch and spending hours just doing it over and over.
Are you a prog fan?
I mean, I grew up in the ‘70s and ‘80s, so, yeah, I came to King Crimson and the like — [1984’s] Three of a Perfect Pair. I mean, in the ‘80s, Rush was everywhere. It was like the Beatles or something. You didn’t have to go out of your way to like Rush. It was right there.
You knew what to do on some core level.
Sometimes. I mean, I didn’t learn how to play guitar, really, until I was like, 25, because I didn’t want to be a guitarist. It was just something I did to be a songwriter. I had been raised to be a songwriter, around songwriters. It was never my intention to be a guitar player.
But everybody who Bob hired is a songwriter. Everybody in Bob’s band is also a songwriter.
How long have you had that butterfly SG?
In ‘99 or 2000, I made my second album for Epic/Immortal Records [2000’s Brainwasher], and our producer was Sean Slade of [production duo] Slade and Kolderie. He had a ‘63 or ‘64 SG that J Mascis used as rhythm on at least a couple Dinosaur Jr. records.
Sean brought that guitar to Nashville, we recorded the album, and I had to have one. I went to Gruhn Guitars [in Nashville], and they had a $900 SG Junior, used. I just found a picture the other day from probably 2005, and it has all the paint on it.
But there was a store called Uncle Fun in Chicago, across the street from [the venue] Schubas [Tavern], and they had all these old toys, and that’s where I got the butterfly sticker.
Here’s my SG before and after GBV:
What was it like recording for a major back then?
I mean, a publishing deal for $120,000 was a low number. Or, a record deal where you got a $60,000 signing bonus was tiny.
I can’t even imagine what Bob got for signing to a major back when he was so hot. He’s still hot. But I mean, in the industry, you know? He got a record deal when there was more money to offer new bands than ever. That was, you know, a $100,000 recording budget.
Where did that road take you?
I mean, I had a moderate hit on rock radio [“You Blew Me Off”], and it was me, Korn, and Incubus on a label out of Santa Monica [Immortal]. I wanted to something as far away from Music Row as possible, and so that was it.
The guy who signed me had no idea who my dad was, which I thought was a good thing. We would lose $1,200 a day, and the label was OK with that, because Korn and Incubus were selling so many records. It was nuts.
What do you take away from that whole ride as a solo act, flirting with mainstream success?
Chasing rock radio is really unappealing. Really, it was. Even though I had success, still, you’re trying to do things that fit what they’re wanting to put on the radio. And while my label was searching for a new home — Epic and Virgin — I said, “Can I do this little acoustic album with this indie label?” They said, “Sure,” and that’s when I put out an album with Bloodshot. That led to 15, 20 years of being with Bloodshot Records.
Good run? Good relationship?
Oh, yeah. I mean, the label’s changed hands and stuff, so it’s all new people.
Ryan Adams’ Heartbreaker came out on Bloodshot. That’s a classic.
Ryan, Neko Case, Justin Townes Earle, Old 97’s…
Did you know Justin?
Justin lived in my house for a year. I knew Justin from when he was 16. He brought his bicycle to the bike shop I was working at.
Sorry for your loss, man. I know it’s been a few years.
Yeah, it comes up often. I think about him a lot. I think I’ve still got some of his computers and boots up in my apartment still. He was very intense. I love that guy.
What core musical values did your father instill in you?
Just raising me around songwriters, and how much my parents were emphasizing songs. All their best friends that they hung out with were not famous country singers. It was songwriters, like Shel Silverstein.
So you had to know Shel.
Yeah, he critiqued every song I wrote until he died. He was very supportive. He would tell me where I lost him in the song. He would say, “I can’t tell you if it’s good or bad. I can only tell you what I would do differently.” He would go through and send me big lists of his critiques.
He was hilarious. What kills me about all the outlaw country stuff is that Willie, Waylon, Cash — those guys are funny people. And Shel wrote a lot of those songs for all those outlaws. They were fun — light-hearted fun to be around. They’re going to tell you a joke, and you’re going to be laughing the whole time.
It’s the opposite of what, I guess, most people are trying to embrace when they’re wanting to be an outlaw. He was a goofy Jewish guy from Chicago who grew up listening to and loving country music.
Billy Strings told me that after you record with Willie Nelson, you play cards and tell jokes and talk shit and stuff.
Yeah, tell lies. Who can tell the biggest lie?
Any good lies you picked up?
I don’t think I can tell them. They’re X-rated and really good and really funny, but sometimes a little racy, you know? It was a different era.
It’s been 10 years since August by Cake — it feels like a clean arc. Do you find yourself looking back?
I watch videos and play along just to see if I can remember the songs. I don’t look back very much. I’m much more excited about what we’re recording now. I don’t really look back on things, or I try to really be excited about what’s happening now, because that’s what I can do something about. That’s what I can really get into and participate in.
I’m a huge fan of [2025’s] Universe Room. What were your contributions to that album?
Me and my son [Beckham Bare] got to do a whole song with Bob, actually. “Hers Purple.” He let us all kind of do a whole song.
That one’s pretty out.
He’s playing piano, and I’m playing drums and guitar, and I think I’m paying bass, and Bob does a crazy solo on top.
And you contributed “High Five Hall of Famers” and “Upon the Circus Bus” to August by Cake.
Yeah, I had a long poem about the Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus. I always try to overwrite songs, and I asked Bob, “Hey, would you kick out half this song? I’m not asking you to like it. I’m asking you to dislike half the verses. I was like, “Kick out the weak ones, please.” I want to know how it bounces off other people. So, he scratched out the verses he didn’t like, and then I recorded that.
And when I wrote “High Five Hall of Famers,” I think I had to do it in, like, an hour. I was just like, Hey, if you want to have a song on the album, you’ve got to go create it this minute.
It’s like one of those cooking shows where you get to create a meal for your favorite chef, and the only ingredients you have are peanut butter, mustard, and salmon.
Drop Kick Me Jesus and GBV. Who would've thought? Jr. sounds cool. Great interview. Thx.
Great chat, a lot of cool insight into his process - Bobby rules!