Jimmy Wayne Barber (born October 23, 1972) is an American country music singer and songwriter. He released his self-titled debut album in 2003 on the DreamWorks Records label. Four singles were released from it, including "Stay Gone" and "I Love You This Much", which both reached Top Ten on the Billboard country charts. A second album, Do You Believe Me Now, was released in August 2008 via Big Machine Records subsidiary Valory Music Group, and its title track became his first Number One hit in late 2008. Sara Smile followed in 2009.

Early life

Jimmy Wayne was born on October 23, 1972, in Kings Mountain, North Carolina, His biological father abandoned him, and he and his sister were raised in and out of foster homes or were left with other people when their mother would leave them or was in prison. She served four months in prison in 1985 when Wayne was 12. After finishing high school and earning a degree in Criminal Justice, he worked as a guard at the Gaston Correctional Facility, where he worked as a corrections officer for four years before moving to Nashville, Tennessee, to pursue his musical interests.

Musical career

In Nashville, Wayne worked as a songwriter for Acuff-Rose Music, collaborating with Dean Dillon, Sanger D. Shafer and others while practicing his guitar and songwriting skills.

Big Machine and Valory (2006–2009)

After DreamWorks closed in 2005, Wayne was transferred to Big Machine Records. His first release for the label was "That's All I'll Ever Need," which he co-wrote with Mark Nesler and Tony Martin. This song was slated to be the lead-off single to a second album with a projected release date of early 2007.

Wayne later moved to Big Machine's sister label, Valory Music Group. His first single for Valory, "Do You Believe Me Now," entered the country charts in April 2008 and became his third Top Ten in August 2008. A second studio album, titled Do You Believe Me Now, was released on August 26. For the week of September 13, 2008, the title track became his first and only Number One hit on the Hot Country Songs chart. "I Will" was released in October 2008 as the second single from Do You Believe Me Now, and it peaked at No. 18. The next single, "I'll Be That", debuted at No. 56 in May 2009, reaching a peak of No. 46.

Sara Smile (2009–2010)

In September 2009, Wayne released a cover version of Hall & Oates' 1976 single "Sara Smile", with backing vocals from the 70's and 80's pop duo themselves. This cover is the lead-off single to his second album of the same name for Valory, released on November 23. The song has become Wayne's seventh Top 40 country single, as well as Hall & Oates' first Top 40 country single. The album's second single is "Just Knowing You Love Me," a duet with Whitney Duncan, which debuted and peaked at No. 59 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart.

Wayne joined Brad Paisley and Dierks Bentley on the American Saturday Night tour in mid-2009.

Wayne was dropped by Big Machine Records/Valory Music Company in May 2010 midway through his walk halfway across America to raise awareness for the 30,000 youth aging out of foster care every year in the U.S.

Meet Me Halfway

On January 1, 2010, Wayne set out on a walk from Nashville, Tennessee, to Phoenix, Arizona, to raise awareness to the plight of the 30,000 children who age out of foster care every year in America, into homelessness homeless youth aging out foster system. Called the "Meet Me Halfway" campaign, he walked a day, only taking days off the walk for scheduled concerts and to go to the California State Capitol to speak in favor of a bill that would increase the age kids age out of the foster system from 18 to 21.

He successfully arrived in Phoenix on August 1, 2010, after suffering a broken foot four days prior, having successfully walked 1,700 miles over seven months. Even after completing his walk, Wayne continues to advocate for foster children. He has been a spokesperson for CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates), a national network of volunteers who represent the best interests of abused and neglected children in the courtroom and other settings. and says his goal is to have the age that youth "age out" of foster care raised from 18 to 21 across all 50 states In 2017, he wrote and published Ruby The Foster Dog, a children's book, published by Broadstreet Kids in November 2017. The book chronicles Wayne's adopting a dog during his walk halfway across America. The story is told from the dog's perspective. Simultaneously, Wayne released Ruby Toons, a 13-song album of songs reflecting themes in Ruby The Foster Dog.

Discography

Studio albums

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"

|-

! rowspan="2" style="width:14em;"| Title

! rowspan="2" style="width:19em;"| Album details

! colspan="2"| Peak chart<br>positions

|- style="font-size:smaller;"

! style="width:45px;"| US Country<br>

! style="width:45px;"| US<br>

|-

! scope="row"| Jimmy Wayne

|

  • Release date: June 24, 2003
  • Label: DreamWorks Nashville
  • Formats: CD

| 7

| 64

|-

! scope="row"| Do You Believe Me Now

|

  • Release date: August 26, 2008
  • Label: Valory Music Group
  • Formats: CD, music download

| 4

| 27

|-

! scope="row"| Sara Smile

|

  • Release date: November 23, 2009
  • Label: Valory Music Group
  • Formats: CD, music download

| 32

| —

|-

| colspan="4" style="font-size:8pt"| "—" denotes releases that did not chart

|}

Singles

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"

|-

! rowspan="2"| Year

! rowspan="2" style="width:22em;"| Single

! colspan="4"| Peak chart positions

! rowspan="2"| Album

|- style="font-size:smaller;"

! style="width:45px;"| US Country<br>

! style="width:45px;"| US<br>

! style="width:45px;"| US AC<br>

! style="width:45px;"| CAN<br>

|-

| rowspan="2"| 2003

! scope="row"| "Stay Gone"

| 3

| 32

| —

| —

| style="text-align:left;" rowspan="4"| Jimmy Wayne

|-

! scope="row"| "I Love You This Much"

| 6

| 53

| —

| —

|-

| rowspan="2"| 2004

! scope="row"| "You Are"

| 18

| —

| —

| —

|-

! scope="row"| "Paper Angels"

| 18

| —

| —

| —

|-

| 2006

! scope="row"| "That's All I'll Ever Need"

| 50

| —

| —

| —

| align="left" rowspan="2"

|-

| 2007

! scope="row"| "I'll Never Leave You"

| —

| —

| —

| —

|-

| rowspan="2"| 2008

! scope="row"| "Do You Believe Me Now"

| 1

| 36

| 29

| 64

| style="text-align:left;" rowspan="3"| Do You Believe Me Now

|-

! scope="row"| "I Will"

| 18

| —

| —

| —

|-

| rowspan="2"| 2009

! scope="row"| "I'll Be That"

| 46

| —

| —

| —

|-

! scope="row"| "Sara Smile" <small>(with Daryl Hall and John Oates)</small>

| 31

| —

| —

| —

| style="text-align:left;" rowspan="2"| Sara Smile

|-

| 2010

! scope="row"| "Just Knowing You Love Me" <small>(with Whitney Duncan)</small>

| 59

| —

| —

| —

|-

| colspan="7" style="font-size:8pt"| "—" denotes releases that did not chart

|}

Other charted songs

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"

|-

! rowspan="2"| Year

! rowspan="2" style="width:22em;"| Single

!| Peak chart positions

! rowspan="2"| Album

|- style="font-size:smaller;"

! style="width:65px;"| US Country

|-

| 2003

! scope="row"| "Paper Angels"

| 40

| align="left| Jimmy Wayne

|}

Music videos

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders"

|-

! Year

! style="width:22em;"| Video

! Director

|-

| 2003

! scope="row"| "Stay Gone"

| rowspan="2"| Trey Fanjoy

|-

| rowspan="2"| 2004

! scope="row"| "I Love You This Much"

|-

! scope="row"| "Paper Angels"

| Peter Zavadil

|-

| rowspan="2"| 2008

! scope="row"| "Do You Believe Me Now"

| rowspan="2"| Deaton-Flanigen Productions

|-

! scope="row"| "I Will"

|-

| rowspan="2"| 2009

! scope="row"| "I'll Be That"

| Todd Cassetty

|-

! scope="row"| "Sara Smile"

| Tracie Goudie

|}

Notes

References

  • Jimmy Wayne Official website
  • Project Meet Me Halfway
  • FosterClub