ombine one singer-songwriter's fascination with the acoustic guitar in an amalgamation of Folk, Blues, Rock, Country and Gospel, add a social conscience, a hunger for the written word, and a love for singing and entertaining, and you've got Jeff James. With over 2500 performances and 5 albums under his belt, Jeff has become an extremely versatile performer, adapting to whatever his environment throws at him.
As a nationally accredited guitarist, Jeff finds ways of 'wow'-ing audiences with his percussive playing style along with some beautiful fingerstyle picking. Add silky but somehow gritty vocals (a cross combination of James Taylor and Gary Allan) which have been described as "unique" and "gripping" and you've found a show that people keep coming back to.
Jeff James started singing at 6 in a church choir and performed his first 'solo' at 7 in a Christmas play in his small hometown of New London, MN. Around the age of 16 his pastor borrowed him a classical guitar to get him started. He began learning songs from Waylon Jennings, James Taylor, John Denver, and even Pink Floyd.
Over the course of the next 7 years he toured extensively full time as frontman with Country Rock Band Genuine Leather and Lace. They performed the A and B club circuits in the 6 state upper Midwest. He also performed 2 years with another Country Rock Band "KeyStone" Sharing the stage with many major artists. In the midst of both bands, he kept up with several solo acoustic performances which he used to display his own music.
In 1998 he moved to Nashville to pursue the true and trying business end of music. Over the course of the next 7 years of performing and networking he released 4 CD 's independently with the majority of the material being original. He's sold over 3000 units online and in clubs via his Web Site at www.jeffjamesmusic.com. There he became a regular part of the music scene entertaining locals and tourists consistently 3-4 nights a week downtown Nashville and the Opryland Hotel Area. Performing covers and his own songs from a list of over 350 songs drawing inspiration from such related genre artists as David Wilcox, John Gorka, and earlier artists like Taylor, Denver, Dylan, Baez, and Lightfoot. Performing at several songwriter nights, James gained several songwriter friends and publishing contacts, keeping regular writing dates at Universal Publishing. He was asked to perform on America's 2nd longest running radio show, The Midnite Jamboree, where he performed alongside Dale Watson.
In August, Jeff, wife Debbie, and daughter Danielle, made the move back to Minnesota to further his career with the release of the Two Hands CD in the Fall. He has been quickly gaining fans through performances in the Twin Cities area.
Two Hands was recently listed on John Shelton-Ivany's Top 21 Issue #214. This mention was listed by reviewer John Shelton Ivany. The John Shelton-Ivany Top Twenty-One is published in 200 National newspapers.
I play full time all over. Currently the Minnesota area is where I fill my schedule up. "Special moments?" mmm.. performing in front of The Crickets. came up to me one night in Nashville while I was singing James Taylor's "Handyman" and asked if he could sing harmony with me. on me as a performed solo shows at the in Nashville. (and actually getting applause)
Running sound and jammin with . Same with , I think he's amazing. The right people are paying the wrong kind of attention to him.
James Taylor, John Denver, John Gorka, David Wilcox, Lyle Lovette, Pink Floyd (yep)
I love acoustic music, and I love a good voice. I really dig David Wilcox's metaphors and John Gorka's "Why didn't I think of that?" lines that blow me away.
