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 upcoming debut album, Restless Mind, is set to send him into orbit. The accompanying Restless Mind Tour in fall 2024, which features Barber’s Ryman Auditorium debut and showcase slots at the Giddy Up Festival and GoldenSky Festival, will introduce tens of thousands of new fans to Barber’s energetic and emotional live show as well.

Recorded in Nashville and in Barber’s bedroom in Montana during breaks in his hectic 2024 touring schedule, Restless Mind will feature music that dates to the first songs Barber ever wrote. “It sums up my whole music career, and everything I’ve done,” he says of the record. The album ranges from stripped-down acoustic to fill-the-room melodies, so he tapped multiple producers, including Eddie Spear (Zach Bryan’s American Heartbreak as well as Barber’s 2023 EP, Million Eyes) to create the album, as Barber wanted to bring multiple perspectives to his sound.

The first single off of Restless Mind is “Better Year,” which Barber released in August 2024 — along with a B-side cover of Tyler Childers’ “Jersey Giant.”