Bill Barwick, who used his smooth, low, signature voice to croon cowboy songs, pitch products and speak on behalf of the Alpine Search and Rescue Team, died last month in Albuquerque. He was 71.
Barwick, donned in Western wear and strumming an acoustic guitar, played regular dates at Denver’s historic Buckhorn Exchange for years, regaling patrons with Western songs and stories. The longtime, smooth-talking Coloradan represented multiple companies, doing commercial announcements and voice overs for Coors, Hewlett-Packard, Village Inn, Albertson’s, American Red Cross, Starz/Encore Westerns and the Wyoming Tourism Board, among others. Barwick was the recorded voice of a singing and talking buffalo head inside a store at Denver International Airport shortly after the airport opened. As longtime spokesman for Alpine Search and Rescue Team, Barwick apprised the Colorado media about multiple emergency situations.
Barwick’s voice was familiar to hundreds of friends and colleagues who knew and worked with him, as well as to thousands — Western music fans, consumers and news viewers — who never had the pleasure to meet him.
“When you hear Bill Barwick’s voice, there’s only one voice like that,” said Steve Davis, a colleague and friend. “There is no doubt.”
A Lakewood Police Department spokesman and former Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office spokesman, Davis said on several occasions he’s witnessed people meeting Barwick for the first time, the conversation often spun into a familiar pattern. “Wait a minute, are you the guy who does the voice for…?”
Davis and Barwick met in 1998, when both men were members of the Emergency Service Public Information Officers of Colorado. In 1999, they grew close through the Columbine high school shooting tragedy.
“Bill was very supportive” during Columbine, Davis recalled. “He was always checking to make sure I was getting through everything OK.” Since then, Barwick always called Davis on April 20, the Columbine anniversary, to check on him and catch up.
On July 14, 2015, Barwick, who lived alone, suffered a stroke at his home. Doctors believe he had been down about 12 to 36 hours before being discovered and rushed to a hospital. Barwick lost all motor skills on his left side. He never played guitar again.
“It was very humbling to see him in that condition,” Davis said. “It broke your heart.”
Barwick was born on March 12, 1946, in Raleigh, N.C. He showed an interest in music at the age of eight, and as a teenager, living in New Hampshire, Barwick took up the trumpet. He attended the Summer Youth Music School program at the University of New Hampshire and bonded with musicians.
Barwick served in the Army during the Vietnam War. He moved to Denver in the 1970s, after being named Country Music Association Disc Jockey of the Year, an award that caught a Denver radio station’s attention.
Jacqueline Hirsch, a business associate and friend, met Barwick in 1979 during an American Lung Association Trek for Life & Breath, a 100-kilometer backpacking fundraiser.
Hirsch, a self-described “bit of a large woman,” showed up at orientations but wasn’t extremely confident about what she was getting herself into.
“He was very supportive,” Hirsch recalled of Barwick, a trek “leader” at the time. “‘If you think you can do it, we’ll help you,'” Barwick told her.
Hirsch was the “slowest” hiker, bringing up the rear on 15-mile day hikes, packing 50 pounds of gear. One day, at about dusk, Hirsch, struggling to catch up, was concerned about not finding the rest of the group.
“Suddenly, I see Bill walking toward me on the trail, about a quarter mile away,” she said. “He was my buddy! We just continued to be friends for many years.”
Barwick played music at Hirsch’s wedding to Chuck Montgomery in 1988. Hirsch, a graphic designer, and Montgomery, later managed Barwick’s music website, which they continue. Barwick recorded nine albums, which include cowboy covers as well as songs he wrote, that are still for sale. Proceeds from sales now benefit the Alpine Rescue Team and the Western Music Association Crisis Fund.
The National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum recognized Barwick with a Western Heritage Wrangler Award for his 2012 album The Usual Suspects. He was named 2009 Male Performer of the Year by the Western Music Association. In 2005, the Academy of Western Artists honored Barwick with the Will Rogers Award, Male Vocalist of the Year.
Barwick performed at Silver Dollar City, in Branson, Mo., and was a returning talent at cowboy gatherings including the Walnut Valley Festival in Winfield, Kan.
Barwick had a keen, dry sense of humor, according to Hirsch. “He’d say: ‘I don’t get paid to perform, I get paid to travel.’ But he loved it. He wouldn’t ever have wanted to do anything else.”
Barwick was with a friend in Albuquerque for the Western Music Association convention when he took ill. He died on Nov. 10 at Presbyterian Hospital from complications due to an aneurysm.
He is survived by a brother, Ian, of Massachusetts. A memorial service was held last weekend in Denver.
As a spokesman for the Alpine Rescue Team, Barwick was accessible and professional. When reporters would query about costs involved in rescue efforts, Barwick had a familiar, standard reply, in his deep, smooth voice.
“We don’t charge for our services. Ever.”
