James Barker Band

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 five number one country singles with "Chills", "Keep It Simple", "Over All Over Again", "New Old Trucks", and "Meet Your Mama".

James Barker Band
James Barker Band in 1997 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	Universal Music Canada Records Starseed Sony Music Nashville Villa 40
Members	James Barker Taylor Abram Connor Stephen Bobby Martin
Website	www.jamesbarkerband.com

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.^[2] The band's debut extended play, Game On, was released April 21, 2017.^[3] The band received two Juno Award nominations for Breakthrough Group of the Year and Country Album of the Year at the 2018 Juno Awards,^[4] winning the second.^[5] In 2018, the band's song "Chills", cowritten by Barker, Gavin Slate, Travis Wood and Donovan Woods, received a SOCAN Songwriting Prize nomination^[6] and won the award for Single of the Year at the Canadian Country Music Awards.^[7][8]

The band became the first artist to record a globally released Spotify Singles session in Canada in November 2018.^[9][10] Their second extended play, Singles Only, was released May 24, 2019.^[11] They would follow that up with the standalone single "Summer Time" in June 2020,^[12] and the extended play JBB-Sides in August 2020.^[13]

In May 2021, they signed a record deal with Sony Music Nashville and Villa 40, and released the single "Over All Over Again",^[14][15] which became their third Canada Country number one.^[16] In October 2021, they released the song "New Old Trucks", which features American country singer Dierks Bentley.^[17] They followed that up with "Wastin' Whiskey" in 2022 on Starseed Records.^[18] 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.^[19] 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".^[20] They would follow that up with the single "On the Water" featuring American country artist Dalton Dover in May of 2023.^[21] Both songs are included on their extended play Ahead of Our Time, which was released on October 20, 2023.^[22]

In January 2025, the band released the single "You Didn't Hear It From Me", after returning to their original label Universal Music Canada.^[23]

Discography

Extended plays

List of EPs, with selected details

Title	Details	Peak positions	Certifications
		CAN [24]
Game On	Release date: April 21, 2017 Label: Universal Canada	29	MC: Gold[25]
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 [26]	CAN Country [16]	US Country Airplay [27]
"Lawn Chair Lazy"	2016	—	3	—	MC: Platinum[25]	Game On
"Just Sayin'"		—	7	—	MC: Gold[25]
"Chills"	2017	91	1	46	MC: 2× Platinum[25]
"It's Working"		—	3	—	MC: Gold[25]
"Good Together"	2018	—	6	—	MC: Platinum[25]	Singles Only
"Keep It Simple"	2019	87	1	—	MC: Platinum[25]
"There's a Drink for That"		—	2	—	MC: Gold[25]
"Slow Down Town"	2020	—	21	—
"Summer Time"		—[A]	15	—	MC: Gold[25]	Non-album singles
"Over All Over Again"	2021	68	1	—	MC: Gold[25]
"New Old Trucks" (with Dierks Bentley)		63	1	—	MC: Gold[25]
"Wastin' Whiskey"	2022	67	2	—	MC: Gold[25]
"Meet Your Mama"	2023	85	1	—	MC: Gold[25]	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	—	7	—		TBA
"—" 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"[29]	2022	Non-album singles
"Rain All Summer"[30]
"Champagne"	2023	Ahead of Our Time
"Caught Me at a Good Time"	2025	TBA
"I Don't See Why Not"

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	Ref
2017	CMAO Awards	Fan's Choice	James Barker Band	Won	[31][32]
		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	[33]
		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	[34]
2018	JUNO Awards	Breakthrough Group of the Year	James Barker Band	Nominated	[35]
		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	[36]
		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	[37]
		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	[38]
		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	[39]
	2021 Canadian Country Music Awards	Interactive Artist or Group of the Year	James Barker Band	Nominated	[40][41]
2022	CMAO Awards	Fans' Choice	James Barker Band	Nominated	[42][43]
	Canadian Country Music Association	Entertainer of the Year	James Barker Band	Nominated	[44] [45]
		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	[46] [47]
		Group or Duo of the Year	James Barker Band	Nominated
	Canadian Country Music Association	Fans' Choice	—	Won	[48] [49]
		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	[50]
	CMAO Awards	Album / EP of the Year	Ahead of Our Time	Nominated	[51] [52]
		Compass Award	—	Won
		Fans' Choice	—	Nominated
		Group or Duo of the Year	—	Won
	Canadian Country Music Association	Fans' Choice	—	Won	[53]
		Group or Duo of the Year	—	Won
		Single of the Year	"Meet Your Mama"	Nominated

Notes

1. "Summer Time" did not enter the Canadian Hot 100, but peaked at number 24 on the Hot Canadian Digital Song Sales chart.^[28]