)[2] Barker was not a singer and the Mrs Ackroyd Band, with classically trained vocalists Hilary Spencer and Alison Younger, and keyboard player Chris Harvey,[2] enabled his parodies to be sung live.

He toured around Britain and such countries as Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand, the United States and Canada.

[citation needed] Barker was also one of the few writers (alongside Stephen Sondheim, with his parody "The Boy From...") to get the Welsh place named Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantisiliogogogoch into a song successfully (it forms the main chorus of a song of the same name, and is sung four times).

After being diagnosed with cancer and undergoing chemotherapy, he announced his retirement from touring in October 2022, but intended to maintain his online presence via YouTube.

The Association runs a program called EyeT4all,[8] which aims to make computers accessible to people who are blind or visually impaired.

The CDs contain performances of Barker's poems by members of the folk world such as June Tabor, Martin Carthy, Steve Tilston, Mike Harding and Tom Paxton and well known figures including Jimmy Young, Nicholas Parsons, Brian Perkins, Terry Wogan, Nicky Campbell, Robert Lindsay, Prunella Scales and Andrew Sachs.