Calling Barbara Cloyd a Nashville songwriting veteran would probably be an understatement. Cloyd moved to Nashville in 1983 to try her hand as a songwriter and musician. She started hosting the open mic night at the famed Bluebird Café in 1986 and still does to this day.

Between her duties at the Bluebird Café, several writing workshops, and touring sporadically as a solo performer, Cloyd has kept busy for the last quarter century. She will bring her old-fashioned Nashville sound to the Coffee Underground in Greenville on Friday.

“My songwriting definitely comes from the country/Nashville tradition,” Cloyd said, “All my songs have a story to them. Even in the more abstract love song there are still clearly defined characters; the audience knows what’s going on.”

Cloyd’s main occupation in Nashville is as a songwriter; she has carved out a living for over two decades as a spinner of stories in song. She said her inspirations over the years have changed and those effects can be found in her songs.

Cloyd said when she started out in Nashville she just wanted to express herself and put her opinion and personality into songs. She admitted getting caught up in the lifestyle of Nashville at first and tried to make all her songs sound like what was coming out of the radio.

“There is a certain craft to writing country songs,” Cloyd said, “The writers that stick around realize that craft doesn’t make money. When you write a song you are only successful after you dig deep down and write from a very real place.”

It’s up to the individual listener to find out where Cloyd comes from when they listen to her music. Songs like “I Guess You Had to Be There,” which was recorded by Lorrie Morgan, recalls the sounds and reflective lyrics of Joni Mitchell, but with a distinct Nashville twang.

Cloyd has a definite songwriting talent and an ear for the down and dirty sounds the public loves, which is certainly evident in another Cloyd penned song, “Drive.” When Cloyd isn’t performing her own material, she operates Ready for the Row, a service for songwriters that offers consultations and workshops for songwriters looking to sharpen their skills.

So while Cloyd spent her early years trying to put her personality into songs, she now is in the business of writing songs that people can identify with. If she can help one person deal with their problems through her songs, she feels she is a success.

“A great song gives people the ability to really look at a situation and try to find a little kernel of knowledge in an idea,” Cloyd said, “I just try to give people a good perspective so they can process the problems in their life.”