Phil Barnes is returning to Gainesville, and this time he’s coming with Jacob Jeffries.
The South Floridian singers/songwriters will be performing at The Jam, located at 817 W. University Ave., Tuesday. Doors will open at 8 p.m. and the show begins at 8:30. Tickets can be purchased on the day of the show for $10 or in advance for $8.
The musicians met after Barnes had attended a number of Jeffries’ shows and connected through a mutual friend at a Jeffries show in Boca Raton, Barnes said.
“When I was first getting started out, Jacob was the guy in Florida,” he said. “He was the touring singer/songwriter, songsmith kind of guy, and I had always looked up to him.”
The two are now hitting the road together. Their tour consists of four stops, including Wanee Music Festival in Live Oak, Florida, which is April 16 to 18.
This will be Jeffries’ first time performing at The Jam, and Blake Briand, co-owner and manager of The Jam, said he’s looking forward to hearing him play.
“Phil brought some great guys with him last time, so I’m expecting him to bring someone really tasty,” Briand said.
He said the solo, acoustic guitar vibe was a nice change to have every once in a while.
“They bring more of a listening-room vibe, and their music is a bit more heartfelt and thoughtful,” Briand said.
Barnes’ single “(I Love) Your Kind of Beautiful,” is a track he said listeners tend to gravitate toward.
“It’s just about realizing that someone else loves your flaws, and you love their flaws,” Barnes said. “It’s a really cool thing that you get to appreciate someone else’s and they get to appreciate yours.”
Barnes said he has a go-to routine for this kind of lyrical inspiration: He starts by recording a melody on his iPhone. He then plays the voice memo on loop as he drives down State Road A1A.
“I bring a whole bunch of Post-it notes with me and scribble lyrics onto them and stick them all over the dashboard,” Barnes said. “Usually by the time I make it back on, like, a round trip, I have at least somewhat of an idea where I want the song to go lyrically.”
Six years ago, Barnes said he was just getting his start playing at coffeehouses. Now, he’s shared the stage with artists like Jessie J, Nick Jonas and Austin Mahone.
He also said he had a really great time opening for We the Kings in December, where he ended up getting a live record out of his performance.
“I had no clue that this was being taped and after the show I was given the mix and I’m like, ‘I got to put this out on an album,’” Barnes said. “So I did, and it’s probably the proudest thing I’ve released so far because it’s a really good reflection of what my live show is like.”
But Barnes said his greatest accomplishment so far is just being able to make a living by playing music.
“I think that’s still the thing that I’m lucky — very, very lucky — to get to do,” Barnes added.
[A version of this story ran on page 10 on 4/9/2015]
