Native Son Steven Todd Barnett Makes Hometown Stop on Pump5 USA Tour
For those about to rock, native son Steven Todd Barnett is bringing his California rock band Pump5 USA tour on a stop to his hometown of Leavenworth for a concert Sunday, September 8 at the Leavenworth Local Hotel, 600 Shawnee St.
After several more USA tour stops this fall, Pump5 kicks off its international tour in November in Tokyo, Japan. This marks the Deko Entertainment international release of the band’s “Paradise Place” and “Full Service” albums. Leavenworth concert goers will get to hear tracks from both albums at the September concert.
Musician Steven Todd Barnett describes the band’s genre as “Southern California rock” with an emphasis on original music and lyrics. The band performs live with no tracks.
“It’s all original,” Barnett said. “It’s active, it’s entertaining and the songs are really good. We have some people say, ‘That sounds like Southern rock.’ We all grew up in the seventies with Marshall Tucker, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Kansas. Cheap Trick is a big influence of mine.”
Barnett is a homegrown music talent who grew up surrounded by his Leavenworth music family in the seventies and eighties. He aspired from a young age to become a rock star.
His story began on Lynn Street where his father, James Barnett, built a recording studio in the family home. A long line of Barnett family members, including uncles, were musicians playing in early days with such greats as Buck Owens and Roy Clark. Steven Todd Barnett said that although his father was not a musician, he loved the production side of the business, even though it involved some sacrifices.
“We didn’t always have three squares a day, but we had a recording studio,” Steven Todd Barnett said. “I thought everybody had a recording studio in their house. There were bands in there every week.”
Steven Todd Barnett’s music performance journey began when he was five years old, playing neighborhood gigs and with other Leavenworth musicians. He began working as a roadie while in junior high. The work was an opportunity to surround himself with talented touring musicians, such as Leavenworth natives Eric, Mark, and Kevin Gassen and their band Ossian. Barnett said the seventies and eighties produced many great musicians out of Leavenworth.
“There was like 20 years there where (great music) was pumping out,” Barnett said. “Not just average musicians. These were like phenoms, you know, like Gary Finneran, probably the best guitar player to ever come out of Leavenworth.”
Steven Todd Barnett left high school early to pursue his dream in California, heading West in two cars with his other musician buddies. Once arriving in Hollywood, reality set in for the young hopefuls. Their journey included some couch surfing and working any jobs available that would also allow them to break away for gigs or short tours.
Despite the early struggles, pursuing a music career was never a question. Several Barnett family members, including uncles, cousins, and siblings were musicians.
“I didn’t really see (a music career) as a choice,” he said. “I was surrounded by it my whole life.”
The youngest of Jim and Ruth Barnett’s five children, Steven Todd Barnett was inspired by his older brothers Stuart Barnett and Shawn Dale Barnett, who were also musicians. Shawn Dale Barnett became a successful professional drummer despite being born 100% deaf.
Pump5 was formed in 1995 with drummer Andre Bonter and bassist Andrew Cates. In recent years, talented guitarist Alex Kane joined the group. Steven Todd Barnett is the lead vocalist and guitarist.
How the band got its name may reveal the passionate inner character of Steven Todd Barnett. The story:
At a gas station near where Barnett lived back in the 1990s in California, a dog lingered near a gas pump island. It appeared abandoned by its owner. The dog waited at the gas station pump 5 for his owner to return.
“I tried to feed him, the gas station owner would leave him water, try get him away from there. It would not leave pump number five,’ Steve Barnett said. “It stayed by the pump for months.”
When the dog passed away, Barnett felt compelled to honor the loyal animal.
“I called (the band) Pump5,” said Steve Barnett. “I said the least I could do is be human and pay tribute.”
Steven Todd Barnett’s Leavenworth cousin is Dave Barnett, proprietor of Mighty Fine Music, 300 Shawnee St. Dave Barnett, described his cousin’s approach to music.
“Steve’s a storyteller,” Dave Barnett said. “Some people have told him ‘Dude, you’re kind of Southern rock, you’re kinda country, right?’ I mean he tells a story. He’s felt the rough edges of life.”
One example on the album “Paradise Place,” is the song “Junk Man” which tells the story of Steven Todd Barnett’s uncle, Luther David Barnett, who, as a child, was suffering from a long illness, as his parents pleaded prayerfully for their child’s healing. The family was visited by a mysterious stranger, the “Junk Man.” The story concludes that no one ever saw the stranger come or go. His uncle believed he was visited by an angel who cured him.
Pump5 headlines the Sunday Leavenworth concert. Leavenworth musician Josh Bounds is opening at 7 p.m., followed by the Southern rock blues sound of the Silas Dogan Band.
Tickets to the event can be purchased https://www.eventbrite.com/e/locals-the-local-tickets-928012629757 Merch, including t-shirts and records will also be available for purchase at the event.
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