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17th August 2008
Derek James From Red Banana
Media
There are few places New York City based singer/songwriter
Derek James hasn’t been. Performing live for the very first
time in Australia, James soon found himself paving his way
through the streets and clubs of Southern France with an
assembled band of French musicians in toe, playing these catchy
original compositions that were constantly bouncing around in
his head.
His music encompasses his experiences, and his experiences have
been anything but ordinary. Stray, James’ debut album, was
written in the basement of a family’s home in the suburbs of
New York, where he worked as a live-in nanny after returning
from Europe. Unusual job yes, but you name it and he’s probably
done it - bar mitzvah and wedding video’s editor, spa package
salesmen, and once even passed out bottled water at malls to
name a few.
Unwavering persistence, and focus, in his pursuit to create the
best music possible combined with a genuine sheer love to
perform and have fun while doing it, was the bases for
recognition in 2005 when James was a finalist in the
Williamsburg Singer/Songwriter Competition. The talents of
Godfrey Diamond (Aerosmith, Lou Reed) and drummer Nir Z (John
Mayer, Genesis) also saw this ability and passion exuding from
James and lent their skills on Stray.
James has been called, “a bluesy, ballsy Buddy Holly for the
iPod generation” with a “sultry voice is enough to make
anyone’s mama blush” (SilverSpringPenguin.com). James now makes
his local rounds at NYC premier venues such as Pianos, Arlene’s
Grocery, and The Knitting Factory. With a consistently growing
buzz and crowds growing with every show, he’s now able to
prosper from his first love: music.
Derek James is one of my absolute FAVORITE artists in today's
indie scene! His music takes on a playfulness that is
guaranteed to lift your spirits even on the rainiest of days!
Today he premiered his brand new music video for "Smoky Light".
This is perhaps my favorite tune in his songbook, so I am
thrilled that he chose to turn it into a video.
James is a true showman, and he makes this quite obvious within
the 3 minutes of this video, which features FANS as extras! It
is absolutely charming and fresh, and it will definitely make
you want to excitedly run and put the kettle on! (Watch the
video and you will understand.)
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