Barry is a cellist, arranger, composer, and recording engineer based in Santa Cruz, California. He tours as cellist with sitarist Anoushka Shankar and recently arranged and played cello for guitarist Martin Simpson in England and fiddler Sarah-Jane Summers in Scotland.

He received a master of music degree in composition from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and has been musician, arranger, and producer of
recordings of Celtic/American folk music for the Gourd Music label since the 1980s. Recordings include three discs of American Shaker tunes with guitarist William Coulter; a recording of colonial American tunes, The World Turned Upside Down; his first solo recording of mainly Celtic music, Cello; and his second solo release, Tråd, featuring Scandinavian tunes for bowed strings.

Since 1996 Barry has been a student of Ravi Shankar and has assisted him in
several compositions including music for cellist Mstislav Rostropovich and for the Concert for George (George Harrison celebration at the Albert Hall), where Barry also played cello.