Barto was born Norris Lynn Fanning in 1934 in Winnsboro, Texas during the depression to a sharecropper family. His nickname comes from his father "Bart Fanning", who was a farmer, dairyman, milk hauler, saw miller, carpenter, and more during his brief 49 year life span. Barto grew up doing all of the above, then apprenticed as a carpenter, clerked at dry goods and appliance stores, sold Fuller Brushes door-to-door, worked his way through Texas Tech as a draftsman, became a professional engineer and practices as a consulting mechanical engineer for the last 5 decades.
Never an accomplished musician, Barto started playing with a Q-chord after he was 70 years old. This first post was just a lark after Dave sent Quinn the song a while back.
Barto writes stories and poetry about life as he sees it. He plans to post recordings of his original lyrics and music when he gets around to it.