Carol Barbieri is a singer/songwriter/musician from Atlantic Highlands, NJ.  Carol is also a published writer.  She wrote a rotating column for The Asbury Park Press, a weekly column for The Atlantic Highlands Herald ("The Lemonade Stand"),, and has been published in The New York Times ("Your Mother Would Know," November 29, 2005.)  Carol has written many articles about adoption and the need for open records in New Jersey.  She's also been published in The Bergen Record, and The Star Ledger.   

Carol was born in Newark, New Jersey and lived there until she married Joe Barbieri in 1975.

She had her first guitar lesson when she was in fourth grade.  She took lessons with her twin sister, Kathi, for a year and a half.  Left-handed, Carol learned to play like a right-handed player, when her teacher neglected to ask the twins what hand they preferred.  She says that mistake was really a blessing, because she feels that playing like a right-handed player gives her better control over the frets.  But, she says, "Learning how to finger pick was much more difficult for me.  Sometimes it took me months to learn just one song."

Carol picked up the rest of her guitar education from guys who played in bands.  "They wanted to play Jimi Hendrix songs, and I wanted to play Joni Mitchell songs," she says.  "But I learned a lot from those guys and some of them are still friends of mine to this day."

Carol went to an inner city school and credits that diverse environment for giving her a "well-balanced diet" of all kinds of music.

"You heard everything in those halls from Neil Young to Sly and the Family Stone," Carol says.  "You couldn’t help but get influenced by all of the different genres.  The black kids were listening to R & B.  The white kids were listening to Crosby, Stills, and Nash."

Her biggest influence, however, was (and still is) Joni Mitchell.  Carol says, "She's an absolute genius. She continues to amaze me with her talent.  I don’t think that there is a lyricist around who is as talented as she is.  As a songwriter, she has influenced me very much.  I sometimes feel like she’s somewhere in my subconscious as I write, my muse, quietly guiding me.  If it weren’t for her, I wouldn’t be playing, writing or performing."  Because of Joni Mitchell's influence, Carol writes much of her music using open tunings. 

Carol's more recent influences are, Shawn Colvin, Jonatha Brooke, Alison Krauss, and Rickie Lee Jones. 

Carol wrote her first song, "Thank You For Love," when she was in the sixth grade, and says she’s been writing ever since.  She says that writing is an "escape" for her and that it’s gotten her through many rough times.

"I almost hate to put it this way," she says, "but writing for me is almost like a drug!  However, unlike a drug, there is something good at the end of the ‘fix,’ and writing helps me to sort out feelings that ordinarily wouldn’t surface.  It gives me some sort of ‘control’ over the seemingly ‘uncontrollable’."

Carol began playing in a church folk choir, when she was a Freshman in high school.  She performed at local colleges and coffee houses, with her twin sister.  Then the births of her two sons, Jonathan and Christopher, kept her "homebound" for a while.  She says that she has no regrets at all about postponing her musical career, in favor of being a "Stay-At-Home-Mom." She says, "Those were some of the best years of my life."  She continued to play and write, while finishing her degree in English Literature at Monmouth University, where she received the Trustee Scholarship.

When Carol’s sons were old enough to be on their own, she began performing again, this time as a solo act.  "I miss my sister, but I like the control of doing the whole show my way. Kathi was never as excited about performing as I was.  It took me a while to get used to looking over and not seeing here there, but I’ve adjusted.  Besides, she comes out to see me often, and I usually manage to get her up on stage with me for a few tunes."

An adoptee, Carol recently found five other siblings.  "I never had any desire to search for my birth family, until our son, Jonathan, was diagnosed with Wolf-Parkinson-White Syndrome and we needed to get a medical history for him.  I didn’t get much information about his heart condition, but I found a whole new family! It’s been wonderful meeting them and getting to know them."  Carol found a sister who was living in the same town as she was in 1975.  They lived blocks away from each other.  She also found another sister and brother living in the same town, two traffic lights apart!

When Carol was diagnosed with Lyme Disease and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome in 2000, she had to stop performing for a few years.  But she started feeling better in 2004 and began playing again at local New Jersey pubs. Although her schedule is still limited, she performs regularly at The Back Fence on Bleecker Street in New York City.  Carol has also been performing as a duo with Dave Miller, another talented local musician. 

Carol says that the most important thing any musician must do is to, "play, play, play!"  She says, "If God gave you a gift, it's your job to present it to the rest of the world.  Don't worry so much about what others think of you.  There will always be critics out there, and you can't always be everyone's 'cup of tea'."  What's most important is the joy that you bring to your audience.  If you focus on that, you'll always leave the stage feeling fulfilled."

Carol currently resides in Atlantic Highlands, NJ, with her husband, Joe, her two Yorkies, Rocky and Rosy, and her adopted cat, Pumpkin.

NEWS!!!  Carol's long awaited CD, "Let It Go" has been released and is now available for purchase.

To Order:  Send a check for $11.00 to:                    Carol Barbieri

                                                                           12 Simpson Avenue

                                                                            Atlantic Highlands, NJ  07716

MORE NEWS!  Carol's new song, Your Secret's Safe With Me, which is about an adoptee looking for her  birthmother, who doesn't want to be found, can be heard at www.broadjam.com.  It features Carol's niece, Sara Wastog, who was adopted from Columbia.

"The secrecy surrounding adoption needs to be eliminated.  There are many birthmothers out there who are afraid to be found.  They're getting older now and time is running out for them to be reunited with their children.  Hopefully this song will help." - Carol Barbieri

To hear the song, go to www.broadjam.com.  Click on "SEARCH" in the upper right top of the page.  "Put "Carol Barbieri" in the "Artist Name" box.  Select "Your Secret's Safe With Me."  Song information, including lyrics are available there.