Dave Barnes will perform for this year’s Homecoming concert put on by Campus Activities Board

As part of this year’s Homecoming celebration, singer/songwriter Dave Barnes will be performing at Gustavus on Saturday, Oct. 13, at 8:00 p.m. in Alumni Hall. Many people may be unfamiliar with Barnes. Indeed this was the case when talking with Senior Nicole Zibolski.

“I don’t know who that is,” Zibolski said. When told that Barnes was the original artist of the popular song “God Gave Me You” by Blake Shelton, her face lit up with the connection.

“Absolutely, I have 100% more incentive to see him [now],” Zibolski said.

The Campus Activities Board conducted a Facebook survey this past summer asking students who they would like to see for this year’s homecoming concert. CAB narrowed the results to the top six, and Barnes polled in at number three, right behind Timeflies and Augustana.

The concert will be a seated venue.

“It should be a fun show … a really laid back, chill setting that a lot of people can relate to,” CAB Concert Executive Dylan Bodette said. He expects a pretty fair turn out.

Dave Barnes performs a varied genre. He has a mix of acoustic, pop, rock and some R & B contemporary Christian music. CAB members compared Barnes to other artists like Tyrone Wells and John Mayer.

“It provokes a lot of thought. … There’s depth to his music,” Senior Katie Batz said.

Bodette described Barnes’ music as “very … emotional.” If the only reason you decide to go is because it’s free, then go. Free is appealing to any college student. Grab your friends, be entertained and listen to someone who produces a good sound and relatable music, at no cost. Following the concert, there will be merchandise available and credit cards are accepted.

Barnes was born in South Carolina, but grew up in Mississippi. He graduated from Middle Tennessee State University with a degree in Recording Industry Management.

“I’m one of the few musicians in the world actually using my major,” Barnes said in his biography on his professional website.

After, he moved to Nashville to become a singer/ songwriter. His main genre at the time was folk and he found his inspiration from artists like Stevie Wonder and Steely Dan. “Those artists covered so much ground musically, and no one cared that they recorded whatever they wanted),” Barnes said in an interview for the American Songwriter website.

Barnes started off doing solo shows and selling two independent albums: “Bring the Sun” and “Chasing Mississippi.” Soon after, he landed songs for various television shows and movies. He was brought into the big music industry by fans of such major music artists like John Mayer, Amy Grant and Vince Gill. Barnes also does stand-up comedy on the side.

“God Gave Me You” was a single from his album What We Want, What We Get. Country artist Blake Shelton first heard Barnes’ song on the radio. The song went up for a Grammy Award and was number one on the country charts. The publicity and popularity of the song opened many new doors for Barnes.

Barnes released his newest album in March of this past spring. Stories to Tell is his fourth album release, but the first one that wasn’t recorded in Nashville, Tennessee.

“I’ve done all the other records in Nashville but for this one I really wanted to do something different; I wanted to get out of town and do something that wouldn’t sound quite as much like the stuff I’ve done before,” Barnes said in the news feed on his website.

The songs for this album are based on his personal life and experiences, as well as the theme of “enjoying the moment.”