Dave Barnes moved to Knoxville just before his junior year of High School back in 1994. Though not born here, we love to claim him just the same. His music has developed over his last eight albums and turned him into a nationally recognized singer/songwriter, garnering him a grammy nod and a large, adoring fan base. His popularity and skill have grown exponentially over the last 20 years and it is due, in part, to his completely loveable personality and passionately fun lyrics. Recently we caught up with Dave to discuss first times on stage, Sugar Ray, and of all things, Knoxville.
Shortly after graduating college at MTSU, Barnes hit the road and soon made Nashville home. As with any big city, there are always the venues that an artist looks at and says, “if I can just play there, I will have made it.” Barnes elaborates on the lines from his song “Twenty Three” off of his newest album “Golden Days.” (On the Exit In) “Feeling like it’s my home crowd and just being able to say, I was able to finally book a show there. And all of the sudden, what we finally begin to see, which is what that second verse is about, people started to sniff it out. We had some cool other artist start showing up at shows and saying, this guy is legit enough that he is playing this room. The were so many emotions. The kind of excitement that just begets more excitement.”
Every artist begins to hone their sound. That certain melodic vibe that becomes theirs and is easily recognized as their own. “We did a lot of things. “Twenty Three” for me…this is so funny…you are going to love this reference, I was like man, I feel like Sugar Ray when those guys were really killing it. They had figured out how to make really simple music, really poppy, and really fun to listen to. It’s not like I am the biggest Sugar Ray fan in the world, but I just remember every time I would hear one of those songs, I would think, “how do they do the simple things so well.” You could sing the guitar part. You could sing the bass. You could sing the little horn parts they would do. My producer said, “what are you thinking on the song?” I said, “man you’re going to laugh,” but the minute I said Sugar Ray, he said, “I was about to say the same thing. That’s why I love working with Ed. We really approach each song in its own way. I’m sure it’s really obvious, but “All She Wants is You” was my reference to “She Talks to Angels.” I have always written that way. I don’t tend to write stuff that is all together and cohesive, other that really in subject matter. I tend to like albums that are more add, that tend to bounce and go places. As far as sounds, when you write like that, you get to reinvent the wheel with every song. You’re not like, lets remember we used this guitar sound on this song, so lets do it there. I would say that “Loving Los Angeles” and “Twenty Three” are twin sisters, in the they have the same template with the drum groove. Drum programing going into live drums, a little guitar hook… Each of them have these templates that follow themselves, which I really love, as opposed to “I love this sound.”
“Sharon Sue” really resonates with me. One Valentines Day, I took a girl named Anne on a date, a first date non the less. I was nervous and flustered and freaking out about protocol. I was twenty three and had never had a Valentines date. I bought her a purse from a upscale store and a dozen roses. I was so unsure of myself that I just wanted to hide under my bed. Upon entering my house, she saw the flowers and asked if they were for her. I said yes and she said that she didn’t like roses. Ah, first dates. Several years later, Anne had been having a long run of stressful work coupled with long hours and very little sleep. While gone one rainy day, I bought her the flowers she did like, gerber daises. I cooked dinner and cleaned the apartment and bought her a massage and some wine. She came home ready to lay down and forget the day. I poked and prodded and got her into the kitchen where her gifts were waiting. She looked at me, looked at the gifts, looked at me, and said, “What did you do?” Ah, relationships.
The opening line of “Sharon Sue” is “I bought you these roses and a big ole bottle of wine. I bought you theses daises in case you change your mind.” As you can imagine, I couldn’t help but laugh. “(Laughing) Oh that’s so funny. (As to his meaning) It was more just the fun, in knowing, that women, in all of their beauty, can be so tricky. I wanted the listeners to know how emphatic I was about her. In that, I’ve got bases covered, I want this to work. The funny part about that song, if you listen back you will probably be able to figure it out. The template for that song is “Amy” by Pure Prairie League and The Beach Boys tune, “Barbra Ann.” I was trying to do something fun and that was my version of the both of those. I love the chorus on “Amy,” the held note chorus thing. And I love the quirkiness of the lyric and the name “Barbra Ann,” so that’s kind of what that song was.”
The song, “By Two” follows the meeting of his muse. “I love writing stories for my wife. The best part of that song, and this is one of my favorite stories to tell live, (laughing) especially when Amy is not there. I’ve written all these songs for her and she always loves them, but at some point, the truth in it is, I make money writing songs, so that’s not lost on her. We were driving in the car probably two weeks ago (mid march 2014). We’ve been married eight years, four records, several songs about her, and she turns to me after the second verse of “I do” and says, “that’s really sweet”. I start loosing it (laughing). She says “what’s so funny? I say, “Babe, after all those songs, including “God Gave Me You,” which was a humongo hit for Blake (Shelton), you’re going to turn on this song and say that. She says, “well it is. It’s really sweet.” I laughed so hard. I loved it. I mean, it was a laugh of joy, not ridicule. After all these years, her saying that is really thoughtful. Hey, I’ll take anything I can get.”
(On Knoxville) “I was talking to my buddy Matt Wertz last night. We had a show in Waco and I was flying back today. I was telling him that I feel so fortunate that after all these years of playing markets like Nashville and Knoxville, that they are so consistently still coming to shows. I know that can sound like, aw shucks, but I am in my mid thirties now and it’s not lost on me that I am getting older, and the days of me being the young guy at the shows with the guitar,…it’s not that anymore. It means the world to me and encourages me so much to go play these shows. To see people love what I do and more than anything, support what I do. It is how I make a living and provide for my family. In Knoxville especially, it has always been like that. Knoxville has always been good. It is inexplicably awesome. It gives me so much joy to be from there and having graduated from Farragut, it is so cool to go to that place where they love what I do. I really feel that they have championed me for so many years and Nashville has begun to do the same. It is so much fun to play those markets. It always feels like coming home. Stepping out on that stage for the first time, it’s like playing for family. I really mean that. It gives me so much joy. I don’t take that for granted.”
“Hotel Keys” paints so many pictures. It captures the best parts of the road, coupled with the blur that it can become. Barnes gives us some of the highlights. “Truthfully, there are so many. I got to meet Stevie Winwood and it turns out his family are huge fans of mine. Getting to play with Marc Cohn in New York, who I have been obsessed with my whole career. Bonnie Rait, meeting her in Nashville and the her having me come and do a few shows with her. And, I get to hang out and talk with her after each show. Obviously, “God Gave Me You” and Blake. There are so many things that I don’t deserve, that it just just boggles my mind. It baffles me that they have happened. Finding out John Mayer liked my music and has written blogs on it. It’s just too good to be true. To me, there is not enough ink for the paper to answer this question.”
