Tony Straughn's Barn Dance is just that

Tony Straughn of Julian went to extraordinary lengths to sing the songs he loves best. He built a "barn" on his Julian farm in which to hold barn dances and provide quality entertainment for his friends and neighbors at the same time.

His so-called barn is a 400-seat, one-year-old success story. He turned away 400 people the first night he opened on February 16th, 2002. "Turning away people that could not get in hurt us," Tony said. "The word got out that "you can't get in down there." "We still have people coming for the first time who say, "We came for opening night and couldn't get in. The word is slowly getting out that you can get in. every Friday and Saturday night Tony says someone will tell him that "this is the best show in town." He never gets tired of hearing that.

"We try to mix theatrics in the shows," Tony said. "It keeps people guessing about what is next. i can open the barb's loft door the reveal a silhouette that interacts with the song. "We lower an American flag when we perform God Bless the USA," which we will do each performance as long as someone requests it." the audience loves the patriotic touch. "This song really gets the crowd into the act," he said. "They are all on their feet singing with me." Tony has assembled top -notch musician and singers in addition to himself. Steve Harris is the band leader of the Barnyard Bandits.

The Barn Barn is democratic. Everyone is given a chance to solo every performance and everyone is allowed to sing harmony and back-up as well. All musicians are singers in addition.