2024 Rivers 'n' Roots Performers

James Barker Band have fueled an incredible story over the last eight years, largely on their

own, from opening for local bands in dive bars to charting multiple No. 1 singles and hundreds

of millions of global streams to headlining festivals and playing stages across North America and

Europe. After notching their record-setting gold-certified fourth No. 1 in Canada with "New Old

Trucks" feat. 14x Grammy-nominated and multi-PLATINUM selling artist Dierks Bentley the

group currently holds the title of the most #1s for a Canadian country group in the

BDS/Mediabase era. This latest spot at the top of the charts follows-up their “dynamic countryrock”

single (MusicRow) “Over All Over Again,” which also went #1 in 2021. Also in 2022, JBB

has gone on to release the summertime smash hit “Wastin Whiskey” as well as “Beer Me” and

“Rain all Summer”. With this, the multi-award-winning four-piece is continuing their meteoric

ascent in Nashville

Made up of James Barker (lead vocals/guitar), Taylor Abram (guitar/background vocals), Connor

Stephen (drums), and Bobby Martin (bass), the members of James Barker Band grew up within

an hour of each other in rural towns surrounding Toronto. In 2017 these best-friends saw their

hard work pay off when they sent their single “Chills” straight to the top of Billboard’s Canadian

Hot 100 chart. From there, James Barker Band released a string of successful singles, including

the Gold-certified tracks “Wastin Whiskey”, “New Old Trucks”, “Over All Over Again,” “There's

A Drink For That”, “Just Sayin',” “It's Working,” “Lawn Chair Lazy,” “Good Together,”

“Summertime,” as well as Platinum-certified songs “Keep It Simple” and "Chills" and a GOLDcertified

EP (Game On). Now, as the unstoppable group continues to trailblaze, many miles

from their hometowns, the opportunities are limitless – but the band remains grounded in their

small-town roots.