James has been playing since he was about 15 years old and has been playing on stages big and small,
mostly small, for about the last 10 of those years. Through all of it, he's played in basements, garages,
metal trailers, wet stages in the middle of a field, backyards on decks (or in the yard), coffee shops, po-dunk
bars where nobody wants to hear anything but Skynard, you name it, he's probably played it!
While playing every possible ad hoc venue, he's also covered most of the musical
styles - blues bands, jazz bands, small jazz combos, oldies music, classic rock, alternative rock, screwing
off joke bands, heavy metal, even a little country (although you'd have a hard time getting him to
admit it!) and original rock and roll bands (you'll also find him playing on the Rusty String Quartet's Crazy Dreams CD). Although he's played in many bands, with many different people,
along the way, through it all he has always been playing with Dave in one concoction or another, whether as the Cutters Groove
Band, Stark Raving Dave and the Nakeds, a couple of drunk dudes playing at a party or as The Deadwoods, we've always been
making music in some way, shape or form!
James's musical style is a compilation of all of those experiences plus
a constant obsession with music. Music of all different styles has
always been in his blood. Blues, Funk, Jazz, Latin, Rock (Hard, Classic
and all places between), Grunge, Rockabilly, anything with real
instruments and human musicians. Influences abound and include
everything from Led Zeppelin to Stevie Wonder to AC/DC to Wilco to
Buddy Guy to Buddy Rich to Steely Dan to Phish to Soul Asylum to James Brown to Steve Earle and the list goes on and on. Music is good.