Dave Barnes, ‘Need Your Love’ [Exclusive Premiere]

Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter Dave Barnes is readying his ninth studio album, Carry On, San Vicente, and he's letting readers of The Boot hear one of its tracks, "Need Your Love," with an exclusive first listen.

"Need Your Love" was one of the first songs that Barnes wrote for his new record; he recalls, "It kind of became the North Star in some ways." Though Barnes admits that the track's topic (love) isn't an original thought, he enjoyed diving in and coming up with a new take on it.

"I wanted the song to have a lot of imagery ... kind of a tip of the hat to the 1970s Laurel Canyon thing," the artist tells The Boot. Barnes accomplishes that goal with lyrics such as "Southern wind blows / Through my window / The sunset's pulling down the stars / I am tracing / This trail of moonlight / 'Til I'm back to where you are."

Carry On, San Vicente is, according to Barnes, a project he's longed to complete.

"From start to finish, it’s a nod to some of the greatest artists of all time, in my opinion, like Fleetwood Mac, the Eagles, Crosby Still & Nash, etc.," he explains. "We created an album that was so fun to make and will really translate live, so we are excited to get out on the road and play it for the fans.”

Writing for Carry On, San Vicente came naturally to Barnes; he says that he enjoyed "let[ting] my inhibitions go," and that the process "felt really natural." His normal approach to songwriting is to take his influences, put them through a filter and create his own version of things, but it went a bit differently this time around.

"I really wanted to go back toward those inspirations ... as opposed to trying to spin them to sound more relevant or more 2016," Barnes notes. "I really wanted to purposefully take those things and  ... wanted it to sound like that era."

All nine tracks on Carry On, San Vicente were written by Barnes and co-produced with Ed Cash.

In support of the record, Barnes and his band are hitting the road for a cross-country tour; they will stop in major markets such as Dallas, Texas; Chicago, Ill.; Los Angeles, Calif; Austin, Texas; Washington, DC; and New York City. Plus, Barnes will perform at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville at the end of July.

"It's one of the few times that I've written a record thinking so much about what it was going to be like to play these songs live," Barnes admits.

A seasoned performer, Barnes has headlined several sold-out tours across the country and opened for artists including Bonnie Raitt, Taylor Swift, John Mayer, Lady Antebellum and more.

More information on Barnes' tour is available at DaveBarnes.com.

Listen to Dave Barnes, "Need Your Love":