Tim Barry

Avail frontman Tim Barry's solo venture bares no resemblance to the emo-rich brand of acoustic bands that are popular with so many punk and indie kids. Sure, his latest album, Rivanna Junction, has its share of rueful, heavy-hearted musings about feeling isolated and discontent. But Barry's is a different type of angst, one that comes from the hardships known to working-class Southerners. Indeed, the lifelong Virginian embraces his roots both lyrically and musically, spinning tales of social strife, drinking and even prison over a sound that's a little bit country, a little bit rootsy, but 100 percent folk. It's honest, unadulterated music — and it comes from a guy who's done enough living in the past three and a half decades to know what he's talking about.