Barry James Payne & String Bone

Americana to the bone, Canadiana in the heart & soul

Singer-songwriter Barry James Payne was born in London, Ontario. He moved to Vancouver at the age of 21, where he immersed himself in the music business, before moving to Toronto, then Montreal and finally Stratford, Ontario where he is currently based.

His writing incorporates Folk, Alt.Country, Blues and Rock, maybe better categorized as Americana or Canadiana. With a rock-blues stomp or a two-step Alt.country shuffle Payne's music is infectious for tapping feet. A passionate vocalist, Payne’s songs reflect on social issues railing against racism, gun control, the equity gap, global warming, the refugee crisis, those that slip through the cracks of society or a bleak future for a down and outer.

Along with these very pertinent messages, Payne also writes compelling story vignettes of love’s regrets and sweet memories of past relationships, and then will tell you a story when he attended several smokey bar-room shows by the likes of Muddy Waters, James Cotton, Luther Allison, Long John Baldry and Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee between the ages of 16 -19.

Payne is an avid local promoter of concerts as well and have produced over 100 concerts in his hometowns of Stratford & London. He is starting a new series called The Roots Ramble with fellow music aficionado and OnRush Music Festival Artistic/Executive Director, Tim Harrison. We will post about those shows in our events list as well. Stay tuned.

Payne was a core member of popular Canadian Celtic-Roots band Rant Maggie Rant for over 12 years, during which time he performed with several orchestras and in many theatres and festivals across Canada and the US. His songs have been featured on three of their recordings and he produced their last two albums.

He has shared the stage with Juno (Canada's Grammy) nominees and winners and some among them include the late Bill Bourne, Danny Michel, Rick Taylor, Emm Gryner, Luke Doucet, Loreena McKennitt, Linda McRae, Jenny Whitely and he has collaborated with the likes of Ginger St. James, Sarah Jane Scouten, Shannon Lyon, Bob Egan (ex-Blue Rodeo, ex-Wilco), Allison Brown and many more. One of his career highlights was sharing a stage with Trifecta, which includes Rik Emmett, Pavlo & Oscar Lopez, three virtuoso players. He had a blast on stage singing his songs while these three guitar masters ripped the solos.

Reviews:

"The creativity in making this track ('Wow! Oh Yeah') is so huge, .....on the same level of inventiveness as names like Frank Zappa and Captain Beefheart without a shadow of a doubt." ~ Roadie-Music.com (Brazil)

“...'Wow! Oh Yeah' is awesome. Total departure from the country sound… like, Talking Heads meets Nashville….. love it. It feels like Once in a Lifetime (which is a good thing) and attempts to answer the same questions… decades later, as nothing changes.” ~ Matt Wannan, Aeolian Hall (Canada)

The outback, isolated swagger of this one immediately fills the room with a sense of drama and depth. Feeling like a freshly composed addition to the Sons Of Anarchy soundtrack, Waitin’ For My Dyin’ Day has the workings of a timeless classic. - StereoStickman/Rebecca Cullen (UK)

“...on his new album Love & Highways he’s managed to capture the often elusive mysterious country/roots music vibe that’s been mined to great effect by T Bone Burnett...” — Rod Nicholson, Scene Magazine (Canada)

“...'nadir' is truly a masterpiece” ~ Music Star (Germany)

''...'nadir' is an album that will 'grow' on you each time you listen to the songs because of the high quality of each individual song on the album, the superb vocals of Barry James Payne and the musical contributions of some undeniably professional musicians." ~ RootsTime (Belgium)