Matthew Barber

Who is Matthew Barber?

Matthew Barber is a Canadian singer-songwriter. His music has been classified as indie pop and pop rock with folk and alternative country influences.

Barber was born and grew up in Port Credit, which is part of Mississauga, Ontario, just west of Toronto, attending Lorne Park Secondary School before moving to Kingston, Ontario to attend Queen's University, where he volunteered at campus radio station CFRC-FM and performed at campus pubs. While at Queen's, he released his debut album A Thousand Smiles An Hour... independently in 1999.

After graduating from Queen's, he went to McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario for his master's degree in philosophy, and here he began to take his performing more seriously. Gaining support from the small but committed Hamilton music community, he released his breakthrough album Means and Ends independently in 2002.

The album soon caught the attention of Paper Bag Records, who re-released it to a wider audience in 2003. After two years in Hamilton, Barber moved to Toronto.

Barber has been a featured guest on >play, Go and Open Mike with Mike Bullard. He has toured extensively with artists including Buck 65, BOY, Joel Plaskett, Emm Gryner and Matt Mays and El Torpedo.