Tess born and raised in Portland Oregon and moved to the San Juan Islands in Washington State when she was 21 to live aboard a sailboat for 7 years. She started playing guitar at 13; Dick from Rapid Transit (a Portland early 70's Hendrix band) showed her a few chords and she played until her first baby at 30.  She has played with Chevy’s, an 80's rock-n-roll band up in the San Juan Islands.  I met my husband Patrik Guitar Barr in 1986 in Seattle.  She also played the Seattle circuit for a few years as Blue Side Out, Fat James was in the band for about 6 months and he taught her to really get some soul down into her bones. They played the Pike Street Bar and Grill every other Saturday for a year and a half. She stopped playing and singing totally from the time she was 30 until about 45 to raise to children.   She now has her own band Tess Barr Blues Band locally here in Hood River and love doing features with the NW Women and Blues anytime she can.