Early Years

James played trombone and euphonium throughout Junior High and High school, and bought his first guitar sometime in 1990. In 1994 he formed a short-lived band-Big Jim and the Twins-with a few friends and wrote several songs, including the folk-punk anthem "Ow! You shot me! (I'm in pain and callin' da cops!)," and the wildly popular free-punk classic "Good God Almighty." Big Jim and the Twins recorded three albums in the early-1990s and played numerous shows at small underground hangouts for the nascent North Texas punk community before disbanding in 1995, largely due to a splintering of the punk community at the time.

Post-Punk

In the late 1990s, after developing a love for avant-garde jazz, James reunited with a former member of Big Jim and the Twins to record an unreleased collection of original compositions and covers in a wildly unpopular style of music known colloquially as "Free Folk," which combines folk harmonies and instrumentation with avant-garde composition, improvisation, and performance strategies. The Free Folk idiom employs traditional folk elements, such as guitar, banjo, mandolin, and voice, though with virtually no predetermined meter, rhythm, or harmonic structure. Additionally, Free Folk takes full advantage of-indeed, exploits-ambient sounds, such as slamming doors, barking dogs, and shattering glass. All in all, Free Folk may be described as entirely unlistenable, painful, and aurally repulsive.

Following the failure of his experiments with Free Folk, James took a break from playing and recording music, preferring instead the performative aspects of karaoke. Starting in 1998, and lasting well into the Twenty-first century, he spent one or two nights per week singing at various karaoke venues in Texas, Illinois, and New York. These performances gave James the confidence to return to the recording studio.

The Illinois Years

While living in Illinois, where he was known as the "King of Karaoke" and "a Master of the Ancient Art of Kara-Oke," James recorded two albums, I Hate it when James Sings, and I really hate it when James Sings. The first found its way into production as a limited edition compact disc, self-produced and distributed during the winter of 2005-2006.

In the summer and fall of 2005, James recorded a dozen or so songs which found their way onto the limited edition album "I Hate It When James Sings." He enjoyed the experience so much, despite really hating it when James sings, and especially despising his limited guitar skills, that he recorded fifteen more songs in the late spring and summer of 2006, and had plans for another limited pressing. Despite Matthew Schultz's excellent engineering skills and two new guitars, "I really hate it when James Sings" never found its way into full production. If you'd like to find out if you hate James's singing as much as we do, just press play.

Please feel free to download I Hate it when James Sings and I really hate it when James Sings.

James continues to play guitar and sing, though his recording and karaoke activities have ended, at least for the present.