A good song always sounds good. Even without a big arrangement and without opulent accompaniment. A really good song sounds good even if it is performed with guitar and vocals only …
…I was able to experience that in 2014 in a small club in Leiper’s Fork, near Franklin, Tennessee. Resident friends took me to an intimate private show. I was amazed when Kim Carnes came on stage in front of maybe 50 or 60 people and later chatted with everyone and was available for Selfies. After all, the singer with the striking lubricating paper voice landed a real world hit in the 80s with “Betty Davis Eyes”. A long time ago. But Miss Karnes can still do it. To this small show in the private club of a local great Kim Carnes and several singer/songwriters from the country scene were present. Among them was Greg Barnhill. This nice guy has been writing songs for the greats of Nashville for years. Much of it is either not released at all or the song ends up somewhere in the middle of the field. That’s the life of a songwriter. But sometimes such a professional songwriter is lucky and gets a hit. Barnhill landed a direct hit called “House Of Love” – a slightly soulful pop love song, equipped with a retro touch from the beginning and conveying a high feeling, which Amy Grant (together with her later husband Vince Gill) made a hit in 1994. On this evening Greg Barnhill proved that this ingratiating melody and this casually syncopated rhythm ignite even without band accompaniment and sound equipment: the invited audience flipped out during his unplugged performance. I included.
