She was the lead singer of the band Rebecca's Empire from 1993 to 2000 and has forged a solo career since her debut album, Fortified, was released in 2006.
She has appeared on recordings by many Australian artists, including Paul Kelly, Tim Rogers, Renée Geyer, Deborah Conway, the Meanies, Warped, Stephen Cummings, TISM, You Am I, the Black Sorrows, the Fauves, Kutcha Edwards, the Audreys, and Guy Pearce.
During her childhood, she listened to Gladys Moncrieff, Fats Waller, Pinetop Smith, Billie Holiday and Louis Armstrong.
[citation needed] In the late 1980s, Barnard featured on Tonight Live with Steve Vizard and The Big Gig as part of the inhouse band for the respective shows.
[8] Rebecca's Empire formally disbanded in June 2000, when Barnard was mother to a young child and there was conflict with O'Mara.
[citation needed] Barnard indicated that she suffered writer's block from 2000 to 2005, hence a hiatus between Rebecca's Empire ending and her solo career commencing.
The ABC Radio review of the album indicated that Everlasting was "sultry, sassy and even a little bit sexy, Rebecca captures the sound of a woman on top of her game.
"[17] The musicians on the album (apart from Barnard and Barney McAll) include Matt Darriau (he plays a clarinet solo on the song You Are Loved), drummer Dan Rieser (ex-band member from Marcy Playground and drummer for Norah Jones), jazz musician Jonathan Maron on bass (from the band Groove Collective), and cellist Rufus Cappadocia.
Rebecca on vocals, guitar, kalimba, percussion and keyboards, whilst Michael plays guitars, bass, drums, percussion, cello, double bass, keyboard, banjo, mandolin, tzoura, chimes vocal, and also undertook the field recording of the Australian bush, which features heavily on the album.
Barnard has indicated that the album was inspired by "the power of nature, love, the fragile beauty of planet Earth", and that this is reflected in the lyrics.
[20] The title Music for Listening and Relaxation was inspired by an old record cover Barnard found in an opportunity shop in the Blue Mountains.
Barnard indicated that the title "seemed to encapsulate the mood of the songs we were writing at the time, and our obsession with nature photographer Michael K Morcombe.
[citation needed] In 2016, Barnard featured on the tracks "Now That Our Babies Have Grown", a duet with Paul Kelly, and "The Children" as part of the Pesky Bones project.
[citation needed] During 2011 and 2012, Barnard teamed with up with fellow Australian singers Monique Brumby and Kerri Simpson, performing the show "Sheilas of the '70s" (a tribute to female singers of that decade), where the show included comic dialogue and songs by Kate Bush, Donna Summer, Suzi Quatro, Melanie, Blondie, and Fleetwood Mac.
[23] On 26 September 2017, Barnard, in an interview with Jon Faine (on ABC Radio Melbourne), indicated that it was difficult to "get bums on seats" in touring and promoting her own original work.
[citation needed] In April 2018, Barnard announced that she would be doing a series of shows (in June 2018) with Jodi Phillis (from the band The Clouds).
[citation needed] She is a founding member of the Mirabel Foundation, which works to assist children who have been orphaned and abandoned due to parental drug use.
Barnard also contributed bass on a David Hosking-penned song called "Simply Survivors" which was sung by Shelly Scown.
[27] Barnard also conducts songwriting workshops with intellectually disabled adults in Ballarat (who have recently formed a band, the Funky Turtles) and at the Footscray Community Arts Centre with a Sudanese Choir.
[28] Barnard was a regular performer at the annual Sacred Heart Mission of St Kilda fundraiser concert in Melbourne in the 2010s.
[29] In 2011, Rebecca Barnard released a CD and download single called "A Mother Weeps" (with the Models Super Orchestra), featuring Cal McAlpine (drums), Mark Ferrie (bass), Billy Miller (lead guitar/harmony), Sean Kelly (rhythm guitar/harmony), Andrew Duffield (piano/harmony) and Jack Howard (trumpet/harmony).
The motivation of the single, was a tribute to Gabby Larkin who died at the age of 16 from an extremely rare and aggressive form of cancer.
[32] She also had a residence at Melbourne's Caravan Club with the "Rebecca Barnard & Billy Millers Sing-Along", where participants are encouraged to sing, for both fun and therapeutic purposes.