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. 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". The band released the album One of Us on September 5, 2025.
Career 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. The band's debut extended play, Game On, was released April 21, 2017. The band received two Juno Award nominations for Breakthrough Group of the Year and Country Album of the Year at the 2018 Juno Awards,"Arcade Fire and Daniel Caesar lead 2018 Juno Award nominations". CBC Music, February 6, 2018. winning the second."Junos 2018: the complete list of winners". CBC News, · March 25, 2018 In 2018, the band's song "Chills", cowritten by Barker, Gavin Slate, Travis Wood and Donovan Woods, received a SOCAN Songwriting Prize nomination"2018 SOCAN Songwriting Prize Nominees Revealed". Exclaim!, May 24, 2018. and won the award for Single of the Year at the Canadian Country Music Awards."Host Shania Twain is big winner at 2018 Canadian Country Music Awards". CBC News, September 9, 2018."The best Nova Scotia concerts of 2018". Chronicle Herald, Stephen Cooke, Dec 20, 2018
The band became the first artist to record a globally released Spotify Singles session in Canada in November 2018. Their second extended play, Singles Only, was released May 24, 2019. 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, and the extended play JBB-Sides in August 2020.
In May 2021, they signed a record deal with Sony Music Nashville and Villa 40, and released the single "Over All Over Again", which became their third Canada Country number one. In October 2021, they released the song "New Old Trucks", which features American country singer Dierks Bentley. They followed that up with "Wastin' Whiskey" in 2022 on Starseed Records. 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. 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". They would follow that up with the single "On the Water" featuring American country artist Dalton Dover in May of 2023. Both songs are included on their extended play Ahead of Our Time, which was released on October 20, 2023.
In January 2025, the band released the single "You Didn't Hear It From Me", after returning to their original label Universal Music Canada. The song later became their sixth number one hit in Canada. They released their first full-length studio album One of Us on September 5, 2025. The band supported the album with the headlining "Bud Light Buckle Up Tour" across Canada in the fall of 2025.
The band was nominated for Juno Fan Choice and Country Album of the Year at the Juno Awards of 2026. They released the single "After Dark (Carry Me Home)" in June 2026. The band hosted the 2026 Canadian Country Music Association Awards, where they were nominated in five categories, and won two awards.
Discography Studio albums Title Details One of Us Released: September 5, 2025 Label: Universal Canada Format: CD, vinyl, digital download, streaming
Extended plays +List of EPs, with selected details Title Details Peak positions Certifications CAN Game On Release date: April 21, 2017 Label: Universal Canada 29MC: Gold Singles Only Release date: May 24, 2019 Label: Universal Canada 68 JBB-Sides Release date: August 21, 2020 Label: Universal Canada — Ahead of Our Time Release date: October 20, 2023 Label: Records Label —
Singles +List of singles, with selected peak chart positions and certifications Title Year Peak positions Certifications Album CAN"Chills", "Keep It Simple", "Over All Over Again": "New Old Trucks": "Wastin' Whiskey": "Meet Your Mama": "After Dark": CAN CountryChart peaks before December 1, 2021: "Wastin' Whiskey": "Meet Your Mama": "On the Water": "Ahead of Our Time": "Your Mama Would Hate Me": "You Didn't Hear It from Me": "Somebody I Know": "After Dark": US Country Airplay "Lawn Chair Lazy" 2016 — 3 — MC: Platinum "Just Sayin'" — 7 — MC: Gold "Chills" 2017 91 1 46 MC: 2× Platinum "It's Working" — 3 — MC: Gold "Good Together" 2018 — 6 — MC: Platinum Singles Only "Keep It Simple" 2019 87 1 — MC: Platinum "There's a Drink for That" — 2 — MC: Gold "Slow Down Town" 2020 — 21 — "Summer Time" — 15 — MC: Gold rowspan="4" "Over All Over Again" 2021 68 1 — MC: Gold "New Old Trucks" 63 1 — MC: Gold "Wastin' Whiskey" 2022 67 2 — MC: Gold "Meet Your Mama" 2023 85 1 — MC: Gold Ahead of Our Time "On the Water" — 6 — "Ahead of Our Time" — 9 — "Your Mama Would Hate Me" 2024 — 19 — "You Didn't Hear It from Me" 2025 — 1 — MC: Gold One of Us "Somebody I Know" — 2 — "After Dark" 2026 87 9 — "—" denotes a recording that failed to chart or was not released to that territory
Promotional singles +List of promotional singles Title Year Album "Beer Me" 2022 rowspan="2" "Rain All Summer" "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"
Music videos +List of music videos 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
Awards and nominations
Year Award Category Nominee/work Result Ref2017 CMAO Awards Fan's Choice James Barker Band Group or Duo of the Year Single of the Year "Lawn Chair Lazy" Music Video of the Year "Chills" CCMA Album of the Year Game On Group or Duo of the Year James Barker Band Rising Star Award Single of the Year "Lawn Chair Lazy" Video of the Year "Chills" Canadian Radio Music Awards Best New Group or Solo Artist: Country "Lawn Chair Lazy" 2018 JUNO Awards Breakthrough Group of the Year James Barker Band Country Album of the Year Game On CCMAFan's Choice AwardJames Barker BandGroup or Duo of the YearSingle of the Year"Chills"Top Selling Canadian Single of the Year"Chills"2019CCMA Fan's Choice AwardJames Barker Band Group or Duo of the Year Interactive Artist of the Year Single of the Year "Good Together" 2020CCMA Album Of The Year Singles Only Fans’ Choice AwardJames Barker Band Group Or Duo Of The Year Single Of The Year "Keep It Simple" CMAO AwardsSingle of the Year "Keep It Simple" Album of the Year Singles Only Group or Duo of the Year James Barker Band Music Video of the Year "Keep It Simple" Fans' Choice James Barker Band 2021 CMAO AwardsFans' Choice James Barker Band 2021 Canadian Country Music Awards Interactive Artist or Group of the Year James Barker Band 2022 CMAO AwardsFans' Choice James Barker Band Canadian Country Music Association Entertainer of the Year James Barker Band Fans' Choice James Barker Band Group or Duo of the Year James Barker Band Interactive Artist or Group of the Year James Barker Band Single of the Year "Over All Over Again" 2023 CMAO Awards Fans' Choice James Barker Band Group or Duo of the Year James Barker Band Canadian Country Music Association Fans' Choice Group or Duo of the Year Single of the Year "Wastin' Whiskey" 2024 Juno Awards Country Album of the Year Ahead of Our Time CMAO AwardsAlbum / EP of the Year Ahead of Our Time Compass Award Fans' Choice Group or Duo of the Year Canadian Country Music Association Fans' Choice Group or Duo of the Year Single of the Year "Meet Your Mama" 2025 Canadian Country Music Association Group or Duo of the Year Musical Collaboration of the Year "Your Mama Would Hate Me" 2026 Juno Awards Juno Fan Choice
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References
External links Official website