PHOTO CREDIT: OUTLAW FOUNDRY
In case you missed it, RIAA PLATINUM-certified singer/songwriter Sam Barber made his debut appearance on The Kelly Clarkson Show yesterday (2/19). Accompanied by his frequent collaborator Avery Anna, the 21-year-old rising star delivered a heartrending performance of his Billboard Hot 100 hit “Indigo.”
Filmed in a barn, Barber and Anna’s duet performance adds a whole new level of moody urgency to “Indigo” — a standout track from Barber’s critically lauded debut album Restless Mind (released last November via Lockeland Springs/Atlantic Records). With equal parts raw intensity and hypnotic restraint, Barber wholly inhabits the song’s narrative of lost love, heartsick reckoning, and a desperate longing for salvation. As Barber propels the track forward with his soulful acoustic strumming, Anna joins in on keys and takes the lead vocal on the second verse, with their two voices reaching a soaring crescendo at the final chorus. Despite the stripped-back arrangement of the performance, “Indigo” ultimately casts a potent spell and fully immerses the audience in its beautifully wrought melancholy.
A dazzling example of the depth and character of Barber’s songwriting, “Indigo” marked his debut on the Billboard Hot 100 (where it climbed to No. 48), in addition to reaching No. 8 on the Hot Country Songs chart and No. 52 on the Country Airplay chart. Along with “Indigo” (co-written with Anna), Restless Mind also features the PLATINUM-certified “Straight and Narrow” (a No. 13 hit on the Hot Rock & Alternative Songs chart) and “Better Year” — a powerfully rousing anthem featured on Paramount’s blockbuster TV show Yellowstone in December.
Barber recently set off on the RESTLESS MIND WORLD TOUR 2025 — a major international run including headline and festival appearances across the U.S., U.K., and Europe, as well as several shows in Australia with Cameron Whitcomb as support. One of the most in-demand newcomers on the Country scene, the Southern Missouri native will make his next live appearance at Extra Innings Festival on March 1 in Tempe, AZ, where he’ll share an all-star bill with Megan Moroney, The Lumineers, Kacey Musgraves, and more. Go here for more info on Barber’s upcoming tour dates.
ABOUT SAM BARBER:
Now that Sam Barber has your attention, he’s looking forward to holding onto it a while. “I love making anything that can affect someone emotionally,” Barber says. The 21-year-old singer/songwriter from Southeast Missouri has already seen his career begin on a meteoric rise, and his debut album, Restless Mind, released in November 2024, is poised to send him into orbit. The ongoing RESTLESS MIND WORLD TOUR has already featured Barber’s SOLD-OUT Ryman Auditorium debut and a showcase slot at the GoldenSky Festival. The tour will reach the U.S., Europe, and Australia in 2025, introducing tens of thousands of new fans to Barber’s energetic and emotional live show. Barber is also entering 2025 on a high note following the release of “Indigo (feat. Avery Anna),” which marked his debut on the Billboard Hot 100 while amassing more than 80 MILLION global streams and notching 1 MILLION+ views and 400,000+ creates on TikTok. After the success of his PLATINUM-certified 2023 single “Straight and Narrow,” Barber combines raw honesty and youthful enthusiasm in a way that has forced him into nearly every conversation about the future of Country music. In the wake of the Restless Mind album and tour, that future may well belong to Barber.
KEEP UP WITH SAM BARBER:
2 thoughts on “SAM BARBER DELIVERS SPELLBINDING RENDITION OF BILLBOARD HOT 100 HIT “INDIGO” ON THE KELLY CLARKSON SHOW”