New slice of life Singer-songwriter Del Barber trades life on the road to open small-town pizza parlour By: Eva Wasney Posted: 4:01 PM CDT Tuesday, Mar. 24, 2026 Last Modified: 1:16 PM CDT Wednesday, Mar. 25, 2026 Updates

Singer-songwriter Del Barber is working with a new creative medium: pizza.

The Juno-nominated artist has stepped away from his music career to open a wood-fired pizza shop in the little town of Inglis, where he and partner Haylan Jackson have been living for the past 12 years.

For Barber, who released his last album, Almanac, in 2023, the career change has been a long time coming. His connection with audiences felt like it was waning and the economics were becoming harder to justify.

“I was making less and less money every year as a touring musician,” Barber says over a video call while seated at the bar of The Shop, his new restaurant on the town’s main drag.

“If I could have kept making a sustainable life out of music, I would be doing it. I miss my friends, I miss travelling. But I also don’t want for happiness.”

Barber and Jackson met in Inglis 16 years ago. He had driven the nearly 400 kilometres northwest of Winnipeg to play a concert at the five Prairie giants, a national historic site of vintage grain elevators where she was working as a tour guide.

“I was convinced I was going to spend the rest of my life with her — she wasn’t as convinced,” Barber, 42, says with a laugh.

The pair started dating and decided to move back to Inglis in the RM of Riding Mountain West, Jackson’s hometown, several years later. It’s a dream come true for Barber, who was raised in St. Norbert and developed strong feelings for the region after visiting Duck Mountain Provincial Park as a kid with his grandpa.

The couple and their two kids, 4 and 8, live on an acreage north of town, where they grow and preserve most of their own produce.

Barber is planning this year’s garden with a new purpose — to provide The Shop with a homegrown supply of garlic, onions, tomatoes and herbs.

The Shop is located at 167 Main St. in an old quonset hut previously home to a plumbing and machine shop, hence the name. The iconic Inglis elevators tower in the background.

The space was most recently occupied by a bar and grill and had been on the market for several years. Restaurant ownership hadn’t crossed Barber’s mind until he crossed the threshold.

“I was looking for what I was going to do next creatively and this just fit the bill,” he says.

Jackson and Barber purchased the building in late 2024 and spent the last year turning it into a modern dining room with a vaulted ceiling, white walls, woodgrain tables and glistening pizza oven.

The restaurant’s small but creative menu has been a similar labour of love. Barber is an obsessive home cook and sourdough baker with some minor professional cooking experience.

He has, however, spent a lot of time dining out during his two decades of touring.

“I feel like I do have a sense of what makes a place great. There’s an endless desire for a great cup of coffee or a great meal when you’re on the road, and it can be really hard to find,” he says

The menu has a selection of salads and appetizers, including pork dumplings, smoked walleye crostinis and fries cooked in beef tallow.

Wood-fired sourdough pizza is the main event, with rotating specials and mainstay pies, such as the Angry Beekeeper (prosciutto, jalapeno and honey) and the Cattle Call (smoked brisket, pickled red onion, barbecue sauce, corn and horseradish cream).

As with his music — which toes the line between folk and country, rural and urban — Barber has tried to create a destination that doesn’t alienate neighbours who may prefer a rum and coke over a negroni.

“I’m trying to thread the needle on how to be really intentional and artful without being pretentious,” he says.

While it’s been difficult to set aside his guitar and his identity as a musician, Barber has found a lot of satisfaction and transferable skills in his new role.

“Musicians get to wear so many hats — we get to be accountants and drivers and travel agents — and I’m not happy if I’m doing one thing over and over again. I think with running a restaurant there’s a diversity to the job that I really love and that really suits me,” he says.

So far, The Shop seems to suit Inglis as well. The 38-seat restaurant has been packed nightly since opening in December.

“We were full to the rafters without any experience running a restaurant,” says Barber, who runs The Shop with Haylan, a teacher, and a team of fellow artists from the area.

“I’m trying to let my gratefulness show through the work here. I’m just a local guy who now gets to cook pizza every night and people come here and hang out with me while I do it. I feel like I’ve succeeded in creating a place that I would want to go if I was driving across the country.”

Music is still in his bones, though, and Barber hopes to add an outdoor patio and summer concert series to the business’s offerings in the future.

The Shop is open from 5 to 10 p.m. Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. Visit Instagram (@theshop_inglis) for more information.

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