Meet a Star of Stage, Screen and Sound: Steve Barry

I've been covering the Fair since about 1927...OK, not really, but for a long long time.  One of the best things about covering the fair is the people you meet and become friends with that you see year after year.  Now with social media, it's easy to keep track of and keep in contact, but it used to be you'd just see them at fair time.  Steve Barry is one of those guys.

If you have ever been to the Bud Tent in the past 10 years, you have at least seen Steve.  He does all the sound in there, and pretends to work hard.  He really does have a very tough job, you figure he has to do sound for two shows in the afternoon, then the State Fair Idol and the night time bands.  That's a lot of people to keep happy, and he seemingly does it easily.

I had Steve on my show recently, and I asked him who was the worst act he has ever worked with.  He wouldn't say a bad word about any of them..,uh, on air that is...

Not only is Steve a professional sound man, but  (he loves when I talk about this part) he was the original bass player for Dokken, a late '70s early '80s hair band.  Steve left the band right as they were becoming big.  Recently, Steve was on the TRU TV show Full Throttle Saloon, doing sound for Jessie DuPree's bar in Sturgis (Jessie, of Jackyl Fame). Steve was on air about 18 seconds, but hey, that's more than me.

But despite being a big time rock star and big time TV Star and the world's greatest sound man, he really is a heck of a guy, a great friend and another reason I look forward to fair time.

Oh, by the way, Look for Steve's other venture on Facebook...The Mullet Cam.