TWO SHOWS: EARLY SHOW AT 7:00, LATE SHOW AT 9:30
Live at Red Clay Theatre in downtown Duluth
When Dave Barnes first showed up on the music scene 12 years ago, he was the guy hitting the college circuit with limitless energy and an equally unrestrained expectation for the future. There were songs to be penned, tours to be booked and a whole world of experiences to be seized.
Since then, the singer-songwriter has written and released seven albums, played hundreds of cities each year, received Grammy and CMA nominations for Blake Shelton's cut of his song “God Gave Me You,” become a father and formed deeper relationships in the industry than his 23-year-old self could have dared hope.
Turning 35 this year, Barnes is in a season of both nostalgia and reality about what it means to be a traveling musician, and those reflections have become the life and breath of his eighth full-length release, Golden Days. “It kind of tells a story of beginning something, where you are now and, as the season changes, the things you look back on,” he says.
Having recorded his 2012 Razor & Tie Records release, Stories to Tell, in LA with renowned producer John Fields, Barnes is stepping closer to home for his new independently released project, co-producing with multi-Grammy nominated Ed Cash in Nashville and giving his thoughts time to simmer and take shape.
While inspiration often comes as the result of time and work, Barnes says nothing has opened him up to a new realm of creativity so much as being a father to his now two-year-old son.
And he isn’t keeping that inspiration to himself. An artist loved for his approachable and often hilarious nature, Barnes is actively involved in building into the Nashville community and using his experiences to help others however he can. From spearheading a monthly gathering of artists to mentoring younger musicians, he lives by the question, “What good is what you know unless you can share it with other people?”
“Now that I’m here more, I’d love to feel like I’m still involved in people’s lives,” he says. Balancing the realities of his life, career, family and fans, he’s finding the harmony between writing and recording in Nashville and being out on the road playing shows.
In some ways, life has undeniably changed for Dave Barnes since those early years running the college circuit. He’s matured, grown up even. He’s not 23 anymore, but anyone who knows him will tell you this: 12 years into this thing, he’s still full of limitless energy and an unrestrained expectation about the future.
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