Fre. 8. nov. 18 – 19
| Nathan James | Guitar / vocal |
| Walter Wilhelm | Bass |
| Peter ten Wolde | Drums |
“Kun de døde fisk følger flokken” Nathan James har skabt sin musikalske identitet med hjemmelavede “washboard guitar” og selvlærte færdigheder, han har fra starten været fuldt bevidst om at følge sit indre kompas. Hans håndlavede guitar, rytmiske tramp på et gammelt hegnsbræt, sjælfulde mundharmonika samt vokal hvormed han levere egne originale sange betager alle der oplever ham.
Det at Nathan voksede op i den lille landbrugsby Fallbrook, Californien, i det tidlige 80’er har haft indflydelse på valget af hans vej, fordi han kunne relatere til den musik, der stammer fra det miljø hvor han stammer fra. Han havde støttende forældre, der ikke tvang ham på college efter gymnasiet, dette gjorde det muligt for Nathan at gå direkte ind i den virkelige verden af “arbejdende musiker”.
Bluesveteranen James Harman fik øje på Nathan da han var 19 år, han fik hurtigt en plads i Harman’s band og kom med på turné. Denne værdifulde oplevelse har været med til at forme hans musikalske rejse hvor han er gået fra sidemand til frontmand.
I løbet af sin karriere har Nathan arbejdet med andre kendte kunstnere, herunder: Kim Wilson, Pinetop Perkins, Billy Boy Arnold, Lazy Lester, Johnny Dyer, Rick Holmstrom, Janiva Magness, Mark Hummel og Gary Primich til koncerter og festivaler i Spanien, Italien, Frankrig, Belgien, Holland, Tyskland, Danmark, Norge, Sverige, Finland, Færøerne, Taiwan, Canada og Mexico samt over hele USA. Også det danske bluesmiljø er Nathan James bekendt med; han har indspillet med Missy og Heine Andersen, Peter Nande og Big Creek Slim. Han har Bl.a. været i Danmark i forbindelse med Copenhagen Blues Festival.
I 2007, Nathan vandt 1. pladsen i den International Blues Challenge i Memphis, TN.
En unik, respekteret kunstner inden for sin gengre, med over 20 års succesfuld turné og indspilninger fokuseret på hans passion for blues og amerikansk rootsmusik.
Nathan James’ stil trækker i høj grad fra en bred vifte af tidlige blueskunstnere. Du kan høre ekkoet af disse legender i hans musik, men alligevel skinner hans individualitet igennem i hans sangskrivning og selvkombineret musik samt kunstneriske udtryk når han optræder.
🇬🇧 ENGLISH 🇬🇧
Never one to follow convention and always one to think for himself, Nathan James has created a musical identity with his homemade instruments and self-taught skills. Whether you catch Nathan James as his true one-man band pickin’ and scratchin’ on his invention of washboard guitar, stomping out time on his custom suitcase drum set while singing and blowing harmonica or kazoo, or leading his new trio, you are sure to be moved and impressed with the unique energy and soul that he possesses. For 15 years, he has made his living touring and recording, solely specializing in his passion for blues and American roots music. Starting his career as a full-time gigging musician at age 18, Nathan is no stranger to live performance.
While simultaneously discovering the guitar and the blues at age 13, Nathan James has since been entirely focused on where his life goal would lead. Growing up in the small town of Fallbrook, CA, has been influential in deciding to choose this path. “There wasn’t much to do here, so you either got in trouble or found something productive!” Having supportive parents who didn’t force him into the usual college after high school allowed Nathan to go straight into the ‘real working world’ of playing music. “Part of it was luck that I could get paying gigs right off the bat!” Local San Diego blues band the Blues Pharaohs and Billy Watson gave Nathan a chance to get his feet wet with enough local gigs to support himself a month after graduating high school! This led to working with well-known Southern California blues acts Jamie Wood and Johnny Dyer. At age 19, Nathan got the call from internationally known blues veteran James Harman to join his band and tour the country. With Harman, he gained the experience that has shaped most of his career.
After touring and recording nonstop with Harman for 3 1/2 years, Nathan decided to have a go at literally a solo career- that is, playing one-man acoustic-based blues. This was instantly successful, leading to playing over 30 gigs a month at times!! With the strain of carrying the entire show by yourself all the time, Nathan met up with harmonica player/vocalist Ben Hernandez, a like-minded young blues roots musician aficionado, and together they started working as a duo. As word spread of these two and their ability to bring back to life the spirit of duos like Sonny Terry and Brownie Mcghee’s country blues, they gained international notoriety while traveling all over the West Coast. In 2007, they entered the International Blues Challenge in Memphis, TN, and took 1st place! This has made their reputation spread like wildfire. That year alone, the duo traveled to Denmark, Italy, and Taiwan. During his career, Nathan has worked with many well-known artists, including Kim Wilson, Pinetop Perkins, Billy Boy Arnold, Lazy Lester, Johnny Dyer, Janiva Magness, Rick Holmstrom, Mark Hummel, and Gary Primich.
“One of the only guys in the world that can play the traditional stuff right.”
-Kim Wilson
“Of the 65 or so great guitar players I’ve had in my band, since the early 60’s, Nathan James is easily the A#1 hands-down stand-out!”
-James Harman
“Nobody else these days plays so many styles so well, be it old time country blues, low down Memphis or Chicago blues, or even uptown string bending blues.”
-Rick Holmstrom