Dave Barnes and Kelsea Ballerini Debut New Song at Tin Pan South

"He's the king of love songs, obviously," Ballerini said of Barnes. "I don't write love songs, ever."

Written by Annie Reuter
Dave Barnes and Kelsea Ballerini Debut New Song at Tin Pan South
Photo by Libby Oellerich

Tin Pan South is a Nashville-based songwriters festival that highlights the songwriter and puts each writer in the spotlight through nightly writers rounds where the stories behind the songs are told and performed. On Wednesday (April 6), several hit songwriters showcased their talents at the Listening Room Cafe including Dave Barnes, Jim Collins, Wendell Mobley and Jordan Reynolds.

The songwriters’ combined talents include hits by Blake Shelton, Jason Aldean, Kenny Chesney, Randy Houser and Rascal Flatts, among others. Throughout the evening, each songwriter shared how their songs came about as well as gave insight into their lives as songwriters.

Mobley kicked off the round with “Take Me There,” a song he wrote with Chesney and Neil Thrasher. While Chesney didn’t cut the song himself, he got a No. 1 hit out of it from Rascal Flatts. Collins followed suit with his No. 1, Thompson Square’s “Are You Gonna Kiss Me or Not,” before Barnes invited his newest songwriter friend, who also happens to be a recent ACM Awards winner, to the stage.

“I love living in Nashville for a lot of reasons,” Barnes shared. “There’s nothing cooler than getting to write with people who inspire you. I got a chance to write with this friend for the first time six months ago. I was so blown away when we wrote that day. It was one of those writes I walked in and was ready and we were done in an hour. I was like, ‘That was the best and easiest write I ever had in my life!’ We’ve gotten to write a few times and I’m blown away at how talented this girl is. Tonight, I want to ask Kelsea Ballerini to come and sing.”

Ballerini then joined the four other songwriters onstage to perform a brand new song she wrote with Barnes called “Symphony.”

“He’s the king of love songs, obviously,” she said of Barnes. “I don’t write love songs, ever. The closest I get is bossing someone around like, ‘Love Me Like You Mean It.’ This is one of the first love songs I’ve ever written in my life.”

The beautiful ballad had the two songwriters harmonizing on the chorus as they vividly compared love to a melody within a symphony.

The Tin Pan South round occurred a few hours after the country music world lost Merle Haggard so Collins played the Hag’s “Silver Wings” in remembrance of the legend. He said Haggard was his favorite country singer and urged the audience to sing along with him.

Highlights of the evening included another guest performance by Lee Miller with Brad Paisley’s “The Perfect Storm” which he said was inspired by his wife, Reynolds’ performance of “Gettin’ In the Way,” a song that will be featured on Keith Urban’s upcoming Ripcord album, Mobley’s poignant “There Goes My Life” which was recorded by Chesney and Barnes’ soulful “God Gave Me You.”

Throughout the evening it was evident that the songwriters on the stage were just as much in awe of each other as the audience was of them.

“This is always one of my favorite weeks,” Barnes said at the close of the set. “I love Tin Pan South. It’s always an inspiring and intimidating week.”

Tin Pan South runs through Saturday, April 9.