r.mason

texture, tension, release, repeat.

r.mason is singer-instrumentalist Rebecca Barritt, guitar player Jonathan Blokmanis, bass player Aaron Blair, and drummer Taylor Charles. r.mason filters soulful songwriting through explorative moods to cook up a project textured with paradox: lightness and tension, desperation and transcendence. Rebecca has been writing songs since she learned to carry a note at age 4; ever since, music has been her second language and the only constant in her life. She would sit for hours in front of her Sony tape deck, recording songs a cappella until she realized – having begun her formal music training on the violin – that she could learn an instrument to accompany herself. She began teaching herself guitar, then piano – all in service of the cathartic songwriting that helped her make sense of a churning world. Rebecca is driven by a need to understand life’s heartbeat, transforming ineffable experiences and vulnerable emotions into sound. Her songwriting has been shaped by childhood echoes of church music; passion writers like Bob Dylan, Josh Ritter and Kathleen Edwards; singers like Lana Del Ray, Nina Simone and Norah Jones; duos like Angus and Julia Stone; and composers like Eric Satie.

​As r.mason, Rebecca, Jonathan, Aaron and Taylor weave Rebecca’s textured vocal tones with classically influenced electronic keys, gritty atmospheric guitar, and attractive beats, immersing listeners in the heart and depth of their evocative soundscapes.