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On the Water (song)

2023 song by James Barker Band

Manuscripts, fine bindings, an engraving plate and preserved performance ephemera
Arts and lettersInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionOct 26, 2024
Entity authorityQ121536544
Source-derived summary

"On the Water" is a song recorded by Canadian country music group James Barker Band featuring American country music artist Dalton Dover. The song was written by the four members of the band, along with Ben Johnson, Jordan Minton, and Hunter Phelps, while it was produced by Todd Clark. It is the second single from the band's extended play Ahead of Our Time.

Background

James Barker stated that the song "touches on all the best parts of summer: fishing, swimming, chilling in a floaty and above all, doing anything but working". He added that the band "released so many songs about beer that we figured maybe it was time to release a song about the second most important liquid of the summer – water".

Critical reception

Erica Zisman of Country Swag stated that the song "screams summertime" and is "perfect to add to any beach or boating playlist," while adding that the song is a "great example of all the talent" between James Barker Band and Dalton Dover. Melinda Lorge of Music Mayhem favourably reviewed the song, framing it as an "uptempo duet" where the two artists "tap into the well-deserved need to unwind with a brewsky, sunshine, and waves on a lakeside paradise after clocking out of the repetitive 9-5 workday shift". Gabby Shukin of CJVR Today's Best Country described the track as a "summer anthem". Stevie Connor of The Sound Cafe called the song a "boat-ready hit", noting Dalton Dover's "soulful vocals" and James Barker Band's "toe-tapping melodies".

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “On the Water (song)” as 2023 song by James Barker Band. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Water, song and James.

Editorial reviewA useful identification and reception guide that helps separate the work itself from editions, performances, ownership and later interpretation. The current 250-word lead offers orientation but no explicit four-digit date, so chronology should not be assumed. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Water, song and James providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “On the Water (song)”, the useful work is to connect “2023 song by James Barker Band” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

Attribution, date and provenance are strongest when supported by the original work, a catalogue record and documented transmission. The source revision retrieved here is dated Oct 26, 2024. The linked authority identifier is Q121536544. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference.

Critical limits

Titles can refer to several editions, objects or performances, making precise identification essential before interpretation. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.

Best used for
  • Identifying works and editions
  • Tracing reception history
  • Finding collection records
Verify next

The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “On the Water (song)”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow On the Water (song) primary sources, On the Water (song) archive and Water research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “On the Water (song)”?
  2. Which edition, object, performance or recording is being described?
  3. How did later circulation or interpretation alter the work’s reception?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from On the Water (song)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.