For his latest tour, country singer David Ball wanted to play in some small, intimate venues in small towns.
While looking for places within six hours of Nashville, he heard about Carroll County Market in Carrollton, and it sounded like a good fit. So he and his band had a show set up, and they will play there at 8:30 p.m. Saturday.
Ball said he likes playing bigger places as much as anyone, but in smaller venues, he’s closer to the audience, and they can catch the subtleties of the music.
“That’s where the good stuff is,” he said.
Ball, 55, has recorded seven studio albums, including the platinum certified “Thinkin’ Problem.” Fourteen of his singles have entered the Billboard “Hot Country Songs” charts.
His songs “Thinkin’ Problem” and “Riding With Private Malone” each went to No. 2 on the country charts.
He was nominated for a Grammy as Male Vocalist of the Year for “Thinkin’ Problem.” He also appears on “Beautiful Dreamer,” a Grammy-winning CD compilation of Stephen Foster songs, contributing his version of ‘Swanee River.”
Ball, a South Carolina native who lives in Franklin, Tenn., said his favorite stage is Puckett’s Grocery in Leipers Fork, Tenn., which holds about 100 people. In those kinds of places, he said, musicians can actually hear their bandmates — and they can improvise once in a while, too.
“You can really focus on what you’re doing,” he said.
He is touring with a new band that was assembled around Christmas. It took about a month for them to jell into a unit, but now they enjoy performing or just sitting around and picking, he said.
“It’s like the old days — playing music for the fun of it,” Ball said.
They also are about halfway through recording a new album, which Ball said should be out this summer. They have been playing some songs from it on tour, and they’ve had some good shows in good houses, he said.
In scheduling the tour, they just wanted to “play as much as possible and have fun,” Ball said.
“We just did a festival in Texas last weekend and played out in the street,” he said. “I’ve got a great band, and we’re able to do a lot of different things.”
He hopes there are some hits on the album, but he said the songs aren’t like a lot of the music heard on country radio. Some of it is mainstream, but there’s some “old pickin’ music” on there, too, he said.
“I’m a big fan of the country-and-western music of 1958 and Bob Wills and Ray Price, and so it kind of comes from that stuff,” he said, “but at the same time, I like all kinds of music.”
Tickets for Saturday’s show are $15 in advance and $20 on the day of the show.
