James Barnes was born on 9 September 1949 in Hobart, Oklahoma, United States. After studying composition and music theory at the University of Kansas, he earned a bachelor's degree in music in 1974 and Master of Music in 1975. He later studied orchestra conducting privately with Zuohuang Chen. Since 1977 he has been teaching orchestration, arranging and composing, wind orchestra history and repertoire knowledge at the University of Kansas. He was also one of the musical directors of the numerous wind orchestras of the university. James Barnes is now retired.
He was a tuba player and performed with some of the most famous orchestras in the United States. His numerous compositions are widely used and frequently performed in the US, Europe, Japan, Taiwan and Australia. The famous Tokyo Kosei Wind Orchestra has recorded 3 CDs with works by James Barnes. He also received composition assignments from the five largest military wind bands in the US. Barnes was awarded the coveted American Band Masters Association Ostwald Award for Outstanding Contemporary Wind Orchestra Music twice, as well as numerous other significant prizes.