BOBBY BARE RECORDED “FIND OUT WHAT’S HAPPENIN’” THOUSANDS OF MILES FROM NASHVILLE — AND THAT’S WHAT MADE THE PROJECT SO UNUSUAL
Bobby Bare was an unmistakably American country singer whose career had been shaped by Nashville, but “Find Out What’s Happenin’” came from a recording experience far removed from Music Row. The song was recorded in London, England, placing Bare thousands of miles from the studios most closely associated with his country career. Yet the music never abandoned the American identity that had made him famous. An American singer, a London recording session, and a musical approach rooted in Nashville came together in what can be viewed as a fascinating transatlantic experiment.
Today, an artist recording in another country hardly sounds unusual. Musicians routinely work across continents, and modern technology allows recordings made in different cities to be assembled almost instantly. But during the era when Bare undertook this project, location mattered much more. Nashville had developed a distinctive recording culture built around producers, studio musicians, songwriters, and methods that helped shape the sound of country music, so taking an established Nashville artist into a London studio created an intriguing change of environment.
That contrast is what makes “Find Out What’s Happenin’” particularly interesting when looking back on Bare’s long career. He wasn’t traveling overseas to erase the style that listeners already associated with him or to become an entirely different kind of performer. Bare remained the relaxed, conversational country storyteller audiences recognized. The surroundings had changed, but the musical personality at the center of the recording had not.
The song itself was written by Jerry Crutchfield, a songwriter and producer whose work was closely connected to Nashville. That detail adds another layer to the story because even though Bare was physically recording in England, the material still had strong American country roots. The Atlantic Ocean separated London from Tennessee, but the song, the singer, and the musical instincts surrounding the performance remained connected to the Nashville tradition.
Bare was also an ideal artist for this kind of experiment because he had never built his career by following only the safest path. Songs such as “Detroit City” and “500 Miles Away from Home” established his ability to turn ordinary human experiences into memorable country records, while other projects demonstrated his willingness to explore material that sounded different from conventional Nashville formulas. Bare tended to trust strong songs and good stories, even when the circumstances surrounding them were unusual.
That quality would become even clearer later through his celebrated work with Shel Silverstein. Bare embraced Silverstein’s strange characters, humor, storytelling, and unexpected ideas rather than forcing them into a conventional mold. The same openness helps explain why recording thousands of miles from Nashville did not require Bare to abandon his identity. He could change the surroundings without changing the qualities that made him Bobby Bare.
There was also a larger story unfolding around country music during this period. Although the genre was deeply rooted in the United States, its audience was becoming increasingly international. American country performers discovered enthusiastic listeners in Britain and across Europe, where fans were fascinated by the songs, voices, and stories coming from Nashville. Bare was among the performers whose appeal extended beyond the American market, making a London recording session feel less like an isolated curiosity and more like evidence of country music’s expanding reach.
For European listeners, performers such as Bare represented a musical world that might have originated thousands of miles away but still dealt with recognizable emotions. Songs about leaving home, loneliness, regret, work, family, and searching for a better life did not require an American address to make sense. Country music’s geography was American, but its stories could travel, and Bare’s understated delivery made those stories especially easy to follow.
This is why describing the circumstances surrounding “Find Out What’s Happenin’” as a transatlantic experiment makes sense. The interesting part wasn’t simply that Bobby Bare happened to be standing inside a studio in London. It was the combination of different musical environments: a singer identified with American country music, material connected to Nashville songwriting, and a recording process taking place on British soil. Those elements created a project whose geography was unusual even though its musical heart remained familiar.
The session also demonstrates something easily forgotten in the digital era. Recording once depended heavily on being physically present in a particular room with particular musicians, engineers, and equipment. Moving a session from Nashville to London therefore meant more than changing an address on the album notes. It placed Bare inside another recording culture while challenging everyone involved to preserve the qualities listeners expected from his music.
And that may be the most fascinating detail when hearing “Find Out What’s Happenin’” today. Bare still sounds at home because his identity was never entirely dependent on Nashville being physically around him. His phrasing, storytelling instincts, and understated confidence carried that identity across the Atlantic. The studio could change, but the voice remained unmistakable.
Looking back across Bobby Bare’s career, the London recording becomes another example of an artist who was comfortable stepping outside familiar boundaries. He would later push for greater creative freedom, embrace unconventional writers, and record songs that other performers might have considered too strange. “Find Out What’s Happenin’” belongs to that broader picture of Bare as a country artist willing to discover what might happen when familiar music was placed somewhere unexpected.
More than five decades later, the story behind the recording gives the song an additional reason to be rediscovered. It was recorded in England by an American country singer while carrying musical instincts deeply connected to Nashville — three different pieces of geography and culture meeting inside one project. What could have felt completely out of place instead demonstrated something Bobby Bare’s career repeatedly proved: great country storytelling could travel much farther than Nashville.