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Kelsea Ballerini And Dave Barnes Agree The Best Songs Break You Down

With an abundance of young inspiration these two great American songwriters discuss becoming songwriters, writing, and what songs knock them out or make them dance.

Grammy nominees Kelsea Ballerini and Dave Barnes spoke together at the Nashville Chapter's 2016 GRAMMY Block Party about songwriting and favorite songs. "I think the more that I write, the more I realize the best that I can do is that it matters to me," said Barnes. "Because at the end of the day you can write something you would like but it's not messing with me, I'm not going home thinking about this." Ballerini said, "I think my favorite slow, sappy, sad songs are ones that I've written by myself because it's just like letting the dagger go right on in." She became serious at 13 (in 2006) while singing her first composition into Garageband (introduced 2004), helping her heal during a tough day. Barnes said Earth Wind & Fire's "September" makes him dance every time, and Ballerini shared that for her, "That's how I am with 'Ms. New Booty,'" by Bubba Sparxxx. Barnes' other favorites are Diamond Rio's "One More Day" and Trace Adkins' 2007 hit "You're Gonna Miss This." Ballerini named Miranda Lambert's "The House That Built Me," Heartland's "I Loved Her First," "Somewhere Over The Rainbow," and "The Way You Look Tonight." She also recollected her writing process on "Love Me Like You Mean It," and looks back on how she has progressed from her middle-school lyrics like, "I got tall. Boys got cute. Everything was weird." Speaking about songs that make a person break down, such as an embarrassing incident Barnes related, she said, "Those are the good ones though."

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