Dave Barnes at the Gramercy Theatre

Dave Barnes was born in South Carolina, the son of a pastor who relocated his family to Kosciusko, Mississippi, and then Knoxville, Tennessee. While in college, Barnes became interested in playing guitar and writing songs for other performers until his friends encouraged him to perform his songs himself on campus. After graduating, Barnes began touring and recording, and over time several of his songs were recorded by other artists. In 2011, Blake Shelton had a number one country music hit with Barnes' song "God Gave Me You," selling over one million units. Barnes is based in Nashville, Tennessee, and has released nine albums including two Christmas albums. His most recent album, Carry On, San Vicente, was released March 18, 2016.

Barnes charmed his audience at the Gramercy Theatre tonight with his goofy humor and anecdotes as well as with his melodic, harmonic pop songs. While his best-known song was a country music hit, a fair more number of songs had calypso beats and rhythm and blues grooves, and all were suitable for soft-rock playlists. All the songs boasted a happy, sporty feel, and Barnes' buoyant personality only added to the cheerful ambiance. Barnes experimented with stand-up comedy in 2007 and remnants of this side project pervaded his between-song chatter. This was a music event, however, and Barnes' song craft weaved romantic story-songs that could find him more easy-listening music fans.

Visit David Barnes at www.davebarnes.com.