A new and young singer/songwriter is making it big with artists like John Mayer, Colbie Caillat and Brandi Carlile, just to name a few.

Dave Barnes just finished John Mayer’s Mayercraft Carrier cruise from Feb. 1 to 4 where musicians, such as the three listed above, performed for an audience on the cruise and also had a little vacation.

This helped expose Barnes’s talent that is as raw as Mayer’s talent for the April 1 release of his album “Me and You and The World” by Razor and Tie Entertainment.

Sounding like a spin-off of Mayer – but with a hint of country – it’s no wonder Mayer is a fan of Barnes.

Barnes describes his music in “three ways – a punch to the face, a pile driver to the face and kick to the shin. Okay, okay, I kid, I kid. I hope in most ways it’s soulful. That’s really the backbone – that you can hear my heart in it ? be it fast or funky, or slow and thoughtful, I always hope you can hear my heart in there somewhere.”

It’s true that you can hear Barnes’s heart through his soul-infused songs. Though his music isn’t full of different meaning like what I’m used to, you can hear the pain Barnes feels inside himself and with society in “10,000 Children,” the simplicity and celebration of love in “Until You” and loneliness and the utter silence there is where his heart is supposed to be in “When A Heart Breaks.”

Raised in Mississippi and based in Nashville, Tenn., Barnes sounds a little of blues, pop, rock and sometimes you can hear his southern-country roots.

Like his past two independent albums released in 2006 and 2004, “Chasing Mississippi” and “Brother, Bring The Sun,” Barnes wants his songs to be able to stand alone in his albums.

“As we approach production, what I’m always the most conscious of is, ‘is this song sounding like it needs to sound?’ I do want the record to sound good, but I’m a lot more concerned with an individual song,” Barnes said.

He definitely accomplishes that in this album because his beats, rhythm, message and voice are different in every song, allowing you to listen to the whole album without being bored of the same sounds.

His music has been featured in numerous shows and movies such as “Brothers and Sisters,” “Summerland” and “My Super Ex-Girlfriend.”

His talent as a songwriter is without a doubt hard to miss because many established artists have sung his songs, such as Kelly Clarkson.

Furthermore, to name his celebrity fan base is similar to naming off Grammy award-winning artists.

Most of his devoted fans have been primarily from the South because he hasn’t toured much outside of the South. However, MySpace has helped him reach fans throughout United States.

Speaking of MySpace, you can also find Barnes on YouTube – although you shouldn’t look into finding his musical talents.

Mayer is a fan of his great sense of humor.

And although you can’t tell he’s a funny guy through his music, numerous YouTube videos show him doing and being who knows what that just makes you slap your knee and do a double-take. It’s a talent Barnes doesn’t explore much because he’s too inspired making words into music.

He realized his passion for music after reading the magazine Performing Songwriter.

“You mean there’s a group of people who relate to this? Who have a hard time talking when there is a melody in their head and will run off and call their voicemail so they can remember how this one lyric goes?”

Deur Julie Tcha can be reached at [email protected]