This Grammy Award winning singer songwriter has a voice that is familiar to millions of television and radio listeners. She has appeared at the White House twice, performed in nearly all 50 states including Alaska and Hawaii, toured Japan, Korea, the Philippines, and recently returned from Thailand where she participated in a benefit concert for children orphaned by AIDS. Barbara grew up in Detroit, Michigan. She launched her career in music while attending Michigan State University, where she gained a loyal following performing in the local listening rooms and coffeehouses. She began touring colleges & universities throughout the United States and was voted "Best Solo Performer", "Best Acoustic Performer", and "Best Female Performer" in a national magazine poll. Advertising production houses discovered her smooth and powerful voice and chose her to sing hundreds of commercials for McDonald's, Hallmark Cards, Heinz, and other national advertisers. In 1996, she was awarded the music industry's highest recognition, a Grammy Award. This came to her through a new avenue, when she agreed to sing an album of original lullabies for friend and producer, J. Aaron Brown. After she received the Grammy for "Best Musical Recording for Children", the calls started coming in for children and family concerts. It's an easy transition for her to make, from adult to youth concerts and back again. Her show is always fresh and powerful, offering finely crafted songs with a clever wit. What kind of music does she sing? Good question. Her music defies categorization. Her lyric driven, melodic, often humorous, alternative folk music speaks to issues of tolerance and human rights, as well as personal relationships and funny circumstances. She writes much of what she presents, and has gained critical acclaim for her work. Inspired by experience, hers are songs in which everyone can find themselves. Dakota Records, the independent record label responsible for ten of the singer's sixteen albums, was started by Hutchison, because she "…just didn't fit the major label mold", and she wanted to maintain more control over the content and production of her music. Singer-songwriter, Gene Cotton, produced three of her latest CDs including "Reconcile", her critically acclaimed "Christmas" CD, and their most recent offering, a CD for kids, "Cat In The Sink". Hutchison is content with her career, happy to be writing meaningful songs, and to be able to present them to intelligent and attentive listeners. She loves nothing better than sharing her songs, telling their stories, and joking with her audience whether they are children, adults, or a happy mix of both. "Should her music receive the radio exposure it deserves, the rest of the world will learn what her fans already know: Barbara and her music are full of grace, humor, hopefulness, and most of all deep humanity." "Her very special gift of quality entertainment has brought us a breath of refreshing air that has revived our souls and raised our spirits!"
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