Still Barry after all these years

By Phil Jarratt

The senior gent with long hair dangling from under his floppy hat finishes his light beer, excuses himself from the table and rises uncertainly with the help of walking sticks to make a slow progress, his baggy trackie dacks flapping in the breeze, across the restaurant to the bandstand, where he eases into a chair, picks up a guitar and strums a quick warm-up.

Yes, the dude is in his golden years, no mistaking that, but the moment he adjusts the mic and leans in to allow that rich five-octave range to fill the room, he loses 20 years, maybe more, and he is unmistakably Barry Charles.

In case you just got here or you’ve been under a rock for the past 40 years, Barry Charles is a rock god in Noosa….