Dave Barnes: The Rooms You’re Meant to Be In

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About the Episode

Musician and storyteller Dave Barnes reflects on navigating the pressures of fame, the lessons fatherhood has brought to life, and the joy of integrating his talents holistically.  

Living with Joy. Surviving Success. Trusting the Transformation. 

From Grammy nominations to chart-topping songs, Dave Barnes has experienced the highs and challenges of success in the music industry. But beyond the spotlight, Dave’s story is one of unique integration, bringing together faith, humor, family and creativity into a life defined by joy and hope. 

“Humor is such a gift. It's a way to exhibit joy,” he says. “This moment may be hard, but man, to be able to laugh in the midst of it shows a hope for something bigger than this moment…It's a way to rebel against the darkness.”

This episode covers…

• Dave’s early journey finding his own faith by living, and performing, authentically.
• How Dave equipped himself with joy and humor to navigate the challenges inherent with fame and success.
• Why fatherhood has deepened his sense of purpose, and his encouragement for young artists to trust the process.

The Struggle, the Surrender and the Transformation

Like many artists, Dave shares he wrestled early in his career with trying to be something he wasn’t. Growing up during the heyday of Christian music, he assumed that was the path he should follow. But his songs in that genre felt forced.

“I would sit down and write songs that were like that and they were just hot garbage,” Dave reveals. “But then if I tried to write a love song or a song about something that was faith adjacent, it was just so much more natural for me.”

That’s when Dave discovered that perhaps God had wired him differently.

“I actually struggled trying to be something I wasn't for a Christian career. And it was just so obvious that God was like, ‘That is not who I built you to be.’ So then the journey became, ‘Well, where am I supposed to go?’”

This surrender to authenticity not only shaped his career but also helped redefine his own faith.

“Humor really helped me in those scenarios to relate to people,” he recalls. “I could be funny from the stage and then sing a song with a little heft to it, but they liked that because it was set up by this funny story. It just helped me feel like myself. It helped me move through the world in a way that was really authentic to who I was.”

Though Dave admits he had “pretty humble ambitions” when it came to success, things changed when country legend Blake Shelton recorded one of his songs, “God Gave Me You,” which was followed by a Grammy nomination. He quickly recognized the opportunity as both a blessing and a burden.

“I think this happens to a lot of people with successes. It was like all of a sudden, I was like, ‘Oh, shoot. Have I underestimated myself?’” But Dave relied on his faith which allowed him to trust that God was simply redirecting him. “Trust God to open the doors, because His doors lead to rooms you're meant to be in.”

Using Humor as Armor, Joy as a Weapon

Humor has always been central to Dave’s life and art. From making his mom laugh as a child to connecting with audiences in clubs, faith settings and concert halls, Dave relies on humor as his way of breaking down walls.

Raised in a family that valued both faith and laughter, Dave came to see humor as a spiritual practice, an expression of joy that points people toward hope.

“Joy is a gift God has given me. And I think humor and my music is a way I get to give that to the world,” Dave shares. “I took that on as a kid, and I had a gift for it, which was really fun, because then I could go out into the world and use it.”

Through every season — anxiety, success, fatherhood or creative reinvention — Dave has found grounding in faith. He describes his faith as the “lead boots that have kept me grounded,” a steady anchor when fame or pressure threatened to pull him off course.

Fatherhood only deepened this conviction. Dave’s own Dadville podcast became a platform to highlight the struggles and joys of parenting while keeping faith and humor at the center. 

One of the greatest lessons he took from his own show was: “You can never take your kids farther than you’ve gone yourself,” he shares. “I think it's a real marker for me on the work we do with the Holy Spirit in our own lives.”

For Dave, that meant doing his own spiritual and emotional work so that his family reaped the benefits of a father who is self-aware, humble and hopeful. Dave admits that joy doesn’t always come naturally. At times, anxiety has threatened to derail him.

That's where discipline became paramount to Dave.

“We really do have this choice,” he insists. “We can just sit here and despair or we can actively do something else that gives us joy and hope. That’s what has given me hope is having the discipline to have hope, to find hope and joy in what God is doing.”

This perspective has changed the way Dave sees his own success: as a constant form of “integration” — being the same person on stage, at home and in the studio. It isn’t just his goal, but his daily discipline.

Lessons for a Life Well Lived

For young artists and students navigating uncertain futures, Dave’s encouragement is simple yet profound: “Be who God made you to be.” 

“There's nothing more potent in the arts than someone who really believes who they are on purpose and creates into that,” he advises. “That's a gas tank that never runs dry because that's who you are.”

When it comes to the journey to success, Dave suggests trusting God to guide the path. 

“His doors lead to rooms you're meant to be in,” he says. “The ones you kicked down to get in can really get you in trouble. Where God calls you to be is always manageable. What he made you to do, you have the back for.”

Dave continues to write, perform and podcast, but above all, he’s committed to embodying joy as an act of resistance and hope as a daily practice.