James Barker Band | |
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![]() James Barker Band in 2019 From left to right: James Barker, Taylor Abram, Bobby Martin, and Connor Stephen | |
Background information | |
Origin | Woodville, Ontario, Canada |
Genres | Country |
Years active | 2013-present |
Labels |
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Members |
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Website | www |
The James Barker Band is a Canadian country group formed in Woodville, Ontario in 2013. The band consists of James Barker, Taylor Abram, Connor Stephen, and Bobby Martin. [1] In Canada, they have six number one country singles with "Chills", "Keep It Simple", "Over All Over Again", "New Old Trucks", "Meet Your Mama", and "You Didn't Hear It from Me". [2]
In 2015, they won the Emerging Artist Showcase at the Boots and Hearts Music Festival and the following year, they were signed to Universal Music Canada. [3] The band's debut extended play, Game On , was released April 21, 2017. [4] The band received two Juno Award nominations for Breakthrough Group of the Year and Country Album of the Year at the 2018 Juno Awards, [5] winning the second. [6] In 2018, the band's song "Chills", cowritten by Barker, Gavin Slate, Travis Wood and Donovan Woods, received a SOCAN Songwriting Prize nomination [7] and won the award for Single of the Year at the Canadian Country Music Awards. [8] [9]
The band became the first artist to record a globally released Spotify Singles session in Canada in November 2018. [10] [11] Their second extended play, Singles Only , was released May 24, 2019. [12] It included the singles "Good Together", "Keep It Simple", "There's a Drink for That", and "Slow Down Town". They would follow that up with the standalone single "Summer Time" in June 2020, [13] and the extended play JBB-Sides in August 2020. [14]
In May 2021, they signed a record deal with Sony Music Nashville and Villa 40, and released the single "Over All Over Again", [15] [16] which became their third Canada Country number one. [17] In October 2021, they released the song "New Old Trucks", which features American country singer Dierks Bentley. [18] They followed that up with "Wastin' Whiskey" in 2022 on Starseed Records. [19] In the spring and summer of 2022, the band joined Dallas Smith as an opening act on his headlining "Some Things Never Change Tour" across Canada. [20] In January 2023, the band signed with Records Nashville, a joint venture between Sony Music Entertainment and Barry Weiss, and released the single "Meet Your Mama". [21] They would follow that up with the single "On the Water" featuring American country artist Dalton Dover in May of 2023. [22] Both songs are included on their extended play Ahead of Our Time , which was released on October 20, 2023. [23]
In January 2025, the band released the single "You Didn't Hear It From Me", after returning to their original label Universal Music Canada. [24] The song later became their sixth number one hit in Canada. [25] They are slated to release their first full-length studio album One of Us on September 5, 2025. [26]
Title | Details |
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One of Us |
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Title | Details | Peak positions | Certifications |
---|---|---|---|
CAN [27] | |||
Game On |
| 29 | |
Singles Only |
| 68 | |
JBB-Sides |
| — | |
Ahead of Our Time |
| — |
Title | Year | Peak positions | Certifications | Album | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
CAN [29] | CAN Country [17] | US Country Airplay [30] | |||||
"Lawn Chair Lazy" | 2016 | — | 3 | — |
| Game On | |
"Just Sayin'" | — | 7 | — |
| |||
"Chills" | 2017 | 91 | 1 | 46 |
| ||
"It's Working" | — | 3 | — |
| |||
"Good Together" | 2018 | — | 6 | — |
| Singles Only | |
"Keep It Simple" | 2019 | 87 | 1 | — |
| ||
"There's a Drink for That" | — | 2 | — |
| |||
"Slow Down Town" | 2020 | — | 21 | — | |||
"Summer Time" | — [A] | 15 | — |
| Non-album singles | ||
"Over All Over Again" | 2021 | 68 | 1 | — |
| ||
"New Old Trucks" (with Dierks Bentley) | 63 | 1 | — |
| |||
"Wastin' Whiskey" | 2022 | 67 | 2 | — |
| ||
"Meet Your Mama" | 2023 | 85 | 1 | — |
| Ahead of Our Time | |
"On the Water" (featuring Dalton Dover) | — | 6 | — | ||||
"Ahead of Our Time" | — | 9 | — | ||||
"Your Mama Would Hate Me" (with Dean Brody) | 2024 | — | 19 | — | Non-album single | ||
"You Didn't Hear It from Me" | 2025 | — | 3 | — | One of Us | ||
"Somebody I Know" | — | 35 | — | ||||
"—" denotes a recording that failed to chart or was not released to that territory |
Title | Year | Album |
---|---|---|
"Beer Me" [32] | 2022 | Non-album singles |
"Rain All Summer" [33] | ||
"Champagne" | 2023 | Ahead of Our Time |
"Caught Me at a Good Time" | 2025 | One of Us |
"I Don't See Why Not" | ||
"One of Us" | ||
Title | Year |
---|---|
"Lawn Chair Lazy" | 2016 |
"Just Sayin" | |
"Chills" | 2017 |
"It's Working" | |
"Keep It Simple" | 2019 |
"There’s a Drink for That" | |
"Slow Down Town" | 2020 |
Year | Award | Category | Nominee/work | Result | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2017 | CMAO Awards | Fan's Choice | James Barker Band | Won | [34] [35] |
Group or Duo of the Year | Nominated | ||||
Single of the Year | "Lawn Chair Lazy" | Nominated | |||
Music Video of the Year | "Chills" | Nominated | |||
CCMA | Album of the Year | Game On | Nominated | [36] | |
Group or Duo of the Year | James Barker Band | Nominated | |||
Rising Star Award | Nominated | ||||
Single of the Year | "Lawn Chair Lazy" | Nominated | |||
Video of the Year | "Chills" | Nominated | |||
Canadian Radio Music Awards | Best New Group or Solo Artist: Country | "Lawn Chair Lazy" | Won | [37] | |
2018 | JUNO Awards | Breakthrough Group of the Year | James Barker Band | Nominated | [38] |
Country Album of the Year | Game On | Won | |||
CCMA | Fan's Choice Award | James Barker Band | Nominated | ||
Group or Duo of the Year | Nominated | ||||
Single of the Year | "Chills" | Won | |||
Top Selling Canadian Single of the Year | "Chills" | Won | |||
2019 | CCMA | Fan's Choice Award | James Barker Band | Nominated | [39] |
Group or Duo of the Year | Nominated | ||||
Interactive Artist of the Year | Nominated | ||||
Single of the Year | "Good Together" | Nominated | |||
2020 | CCMA | Album Of The Year | Singles Only | Nominated | [40] |
Fans’ Choice Award | James Barker Band | Nominated | |||
Group Or Duo Of The Year | Nominated | ||||
Single Of The Year | "Keep It Simple" | Won | |||
CMAO Awards | Single of the Year | "Keep It Simple" | Won | [41] | |
Album of the Year | Singles Only | Nominated | |||
Group or Duo of the Year | James Barker Band | Nominated | |||
Music Video of the Year | "Keep It Simple" | Won | |||
Fans' Choice | James Barker Band | Nominated | |||
2021 | CMAO Awards | Fans' Choice | James Barker Band | Nominated | [42] |
2021 Canadian Country Music Awards | Interactive Artist or Group of the Year | James Barker Band | Nominated | [43] [44] | |
2022 | CMAO Awards | Fans' Choice | James Barker Band | Nominated | [45] [46] |
Canadian Country Music Association | Entertainer of the Year | James Barker Band | Nominated | [47] [48] | |
Fans' Choice | James Barker Band | Nominated | |||
Group or Duo of the Year | James Barker Band | Nominated | |||
Interactive Artist or Group of the Year | James Barker Band | Nominated | |||
Single of the Year | "Over All Over Again" | Nominated | |||
2023 | CMAO Awards | Fans' Choice | James Barker Band | Nominated | [49] [50] |
Group or Duo of the Year | James Barker Band | Nominated | |||
Canadian Country Music Association | Fans' Choice | — | Won | [51] [52] | |
Group or Duo of the Year | — | Won | |||
Single of the Year | "Wastin' Whiskey" | Nominated | |||
2024 | Juno Awards | Country Album of the Year | Ahead of Our Time | Won | [53] |
CMAO Awards | Album / EP of the Year | Ahead of Our Time | Nominated | [54] [55] | |
Compass Award | — | Won | |||
Fans' Choice | — | Nominated | |||
Group or Duo of the Year | — | Won | |||
Canadian Country Music Association | Fans' Choice | — | Won | [56] | |
Group or Duo of the Year | — | Won | |||
Single of the Year | "Meet Your Mama" | Nominated | |||
2025 | Canadian Country Music Association | Group or Duo of the Year | — | Pending | [57] |
Musical Collaboration of the Year | "Your Mama Would Hate Me" (with Dean Brody) | Pending | |||