During the 1990's Barton became know around the US Northwest for his songwriting and as the guitarist for Suntribe and later Petal. With the later band's demise in 2001, Barton left the music scene to pursue other interests before returning in 2012 with the release of his solo album Falling Out. On Simple Songs, Barton features six guest lead singers. They are Paul Kane, Jennifer Nau, Mari Lane, Jessica Spiegel, Katie McNeely and Tara Walker. 　　 　　Even as Simple Songs is being released Barton is keeping busy by working on new recordings featuring vocalist Tara Walker while performing live with a new reconstituted semi-acoustic version of Petal he privately calls Petal-Lite.