Influence and Style
A former blue-collar worker turned country music artist from South Haven, Michigan, Nate Barnes grew up singing with his family at an early age.
“People usually do not think of Michigan as a place where you are pickin’ and playin’ all the time. However where I was from, everyone was playin’ in bands and makin’ music.”
Throughout his life, Nate has been inspired by myriad upbeat and down-to-earth artists spanning different genres of music. In addition, Nate gives credits to his family and friends for helping him get to where he is today.
“Listening to artists like B.B. King, Elvis, Brooks & Dunn, and Keith Whitley has made me the artist I am.”
When you listen to Nate, you can absolutely hear the smooth, soulful, and strong voice that artists like Elvis and Whitley sang with in their careers.
Nate Barnes And His Employment Transition
Before moving to Nashville and beginning a career in country music, Nate Barnes worked rigorous fourteen hour shifts at a nuclear power plant in Michigan. His gruesome days included digging trenches, laying pipelines, and pouring concrete often in extreme weather conditions. A few years into his job, Nate heard the plant would be closing. So, he created a four year plan to move to Nashville and pursue a career in music.
“I knew I wanted to be a part of country music for real before the plant was going to close down,” Nate stated.
More recently, Nate Barnes released his debut single “You Ain’t Pretty” which has already earned more than 14 million streams on TikTok. Further, the single has amassed 400,000 streams on Spotify.
The Breakthrough: “You Ain’t Pretty”
“You Ain’t Pretty” dropped at the end of 2020 before world-premiering on CMT and CMT Music on February 12, 2021.
He stated that debuting on CMT, “…really hit me hard because I knew that this was the moment I was going to break through. It has always been a lifelong dream of mine to be able to touch people’s hearts with my music.”
The debut single represents and encourages inner-beauty in every single person even when we feel insecure and uncertain about ourselves.
Nate illustrates, “Imagine a situation when you can tell that something ain’t right with your significant other. Or maybe they aren’t feeling great about themselves. So you decide to help them out by letting them know that ‘You will love them no matter what.’ That’s really what this song is about.”
His augmenting single “You Ain’t Pretty” centers around building up our loved ones in a world that often tears them down.
New Single and Summer EP
Coming soon, Nate has a brand new single planned for release next Friday, February 26.
“It will be an in-your-face type song. And from the very first note, I hope that it will grab people in an electrifying way,” he explains.
Furthermore, Nate’s first EP is set to release later this year in June. For more information on Nate Barnes visit NateBarnesMusic.com.