It also helped that his fans and followers encouraged him about the original songs, and he also nearly placed his song, “In The US of A,” on an album by the band Asleep at the Wheel a few years ago, he said, which was additional motivation to continue with his songwriting.
“Some Nashville people also were interested, but only to the point of [a] ‘close, but no cigar,’ type of thing. In fact, that’s what one of them wrote me back once!” he laughed.
Barry Searle, musician and band leader of Barry Searle and the Wolf Hill Band, at his home in Southampton, Thursday, April 23, 2026. DANIEL JACOBI II / Staff Photo
The album features 13 tracks. “Pretty much every song has some message, and there’s an inspiration for it,” Searle said. “Some of them just land in your lap … and it’s all there. That’s rare, but those are the special ones.”
The aforementioned song, “In The US of A,” was inspired by a cross-country motorcycle trip Searle took and the sights he saw along the way. “There’s no politics in that one at all,” he said. “It’s all about the natural beauty.”
The album’s titular track, “The Awakening,” is about the consequences of greed: “Go on and follow your leaders / Even though they don’t heed us / ‘Cause it’s every man for himself / As you come racing past / Just save your own ass / Don’t think of anybody else.” Searle wrote it in the 70s, but feels it remains relevant.
“I feel like, today, with what’s going on, it’s as true as ever,” he said.
“Apple Valley” is about the way that development has distanced people from nature: “Don’t let the names fool you / ‘Cause they don’t mean a thing / ‘Green Meadow’ and ‘Apple Valley’ have / Such a pleasant ring / There ain’t no apple trees to be found / I wonder who we have to thank / The only green growing around here now / Is all sitting in some bank.”
However, one track, “Bernie’s Bounce,” is entirely instrumental. “Frankly, I think of myself as a guitar player first and a singer second,” Searle said. “I always looked at singing as being like a necessary evil in order to be able to play guitar.”
The song takes its name from the late Bernie Schranz, a local guitarist who gave Searle guitar lessons as a child. Schranz taught Searle an early form of what would become the track. “Years later, I took that and I added to it, so it’s like a co-written thing,” Searle said.
Local veteran musician Barry Searle and his Wolf Hill Band recently celebrated the release of his debut solo album, “The Awakening,” at Marigold Theater in Easthampton on Sunday, April 26. CONTRIBUTED
Though recorded in 2023, a series of setbacks delayed the album’s release. In 2024 — what Searle called “the year that was supposed to be our big push” — he was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis. After a year of seeking treatment, his brother passed away in 2025, and handling his final affairs “basically chewed up the whole year,” he said.
Releasing the album now is “a little unorthodox, I realize,” he said, but he feels 2026 is finally the right time. When Searle spoke to the Gazette, he was just days away from his album launch concert with the Wolf Hill Band at the Marigold Theater in Easthampton on Sunday, April 26.
“The recordings are fine, but there’s a way better energy when you’re doing it live,” Searle said. “The spontaneity and the inspiration all congeal in one time, in one place, so we’re looking forward to it.”
“The Awakening” is available on most major streaming platforms. For more information about Barry Searle, visit barrysearle.com.
