It is a beautiful thing when you arrive at a concert anticipating a great show from your favorite band and you leave having found your new “other favorite” or “second” in the opening act. As a diehard Hanson fan, I have found this occurrence to happen quite frequently within the community. Hanson typically does a good job at choosing artists to tour with them who in general, follow the same sound and hold the same sort of integrity as Hanson themselves. I can honestly say that the majority of musician’s who I have personally seen tour with the band, have wound up on my own list of “favorites”. For me no one, however, has ever come so close to meeting Hanson at the top of that list as singer/songwriter, Dave Barnes.
For those of you who did not have the good fortune as to see Dave Barnes open for Hanson during The Walk Around The World Tour, I can only attempt to describe the man with words such as “awesome”, “talented”, “unique”, and “hilarious”. I’d have to say he’s a little bit “country” with a lot of rock, roll, and some blues thrown into the mix. His music is sincere and often inspirational, while his genuinely comical personality shines through at all the right times. He has made his mark on both ends of the field quite seamlessly; having a foothold as an independent artist for Razor & Tie in both contemporary Christian radio and the more “secular” scene, appearing on ABC’s All My Children earlier this year to perform his most recent hit “God Gave Me You”.
A ticket to see Dave Barnes in concert is often a small fraction of the shows actual worth. I can guarantee that the majority of those who adore Hanson, will walk away from Dave with their mind’s full of great music and their smile’s sore from the consistent bout of laughter this man causes with the almost equal amount of comedy he pours out in between songs. You won’t leave dissatisfied!
To see Dave, currently you can catch him on tour opening for Mercy Me until the 25th of October when he will resume his personal tour in Denver. Stops scheduled will include cities such as St. Louis, New York, Richmond, and Charlotte and run on into late November. For tour and ticket information, simply check out http://www.davebarnes.com. Also, be sure to check out the April ’10 release, What You Want What You Get in stores and online. iTunes has also recently released a selection from Barnes’ tracks as an instrumental collection for purchase – excellent for karaoke nights!
