Folk, Rock, Blues, Poetic, Intrumental. A new approach to political folk music.

13 MP3 Songs
FOLK: Modern Folk, BLUES: Acoustic Blues



Details:
James Mitchell was born in Chicago on December 5th 1978. As a child, Piano was his first love. He took lessons for about a year at the age of 11. He never really took to learning piano through others, and later taught himself. In high school, James then taught himself how to play the guitar.
âWhen I was a teenager, I would break into my older brotherâs room with many different types of guitars. At 14 I taught myself some chords on a baritone classical guitar with only 4 strings, the strings were probably as old as I was. Later I grew some balls and started playing my brotherâs more expensive guitars..... it was never good to break strings on those guitars, but it did happen. By age 15 I had my own guitar to break strings onâ
Playing in bands and messing around with other kids in the neighborhood was one thing, however James became more serious and learned a closer, more intimate style of writing. By the time he hit college, he was interested in speaking a different type of language than just the average songwriter. He took his writing more seriously and attended song writing and poetry classes. His lyrics became more political and he used words heâd expect to hit home with most of his followers. Although, it didnât stop there. James then became more infatuated with the audio science behind the idea of making recordings. Breaking into his brotherâs room and using tape recorders to teach himself guitar, wasnât enough to quench what james wanted to offer.... however, it did mold his style.
Mitchell is a singer and acoustic guitar artist who can never choose just one particular genre when it comes to his style of writing. As of late, his music has spun from political folk music, adding rock, blues, jazz sequences, and symphony arrangements to his acoustic song writing. Growing up in the south suburbs of chicago, James never made a point to become well acquainted with too many musicians. He was modest and not very confident to show his writing, but did share with close friends. By 18 James started to play coffee houses and was snuck into college bars in Chicago to play his material on stage. Until just recently, he had been making his recordings and doing his shows completely on his own. In 2000, James released his first private record, âFace First.â These songs were merely amateur recordings done from age 19 to 21 in his bedroom. In 2001, James released another CD locally titled, âThey.â Both prior recordings and the songs on them have remained close to James in his song writing, and are still performed on stage. Within the past few years, James has been studying audio and music. He attended Columbia in Chicago, and graduated in 2005 with a B.A. in Audio Arts and Acoustics. During his years at Columbia, James met with many different artists and musicians and started to collaborate with them on a project he had long waited to complete. After three years recording, mixing, learning, adding and subtracting, James finally completely his first professional release titled, âResembleâ due out summer of 2006.
âI never really thought about what it would be like to work with so many different musicians, and so many different perspectives on just one project. I feel blessed as every inch of blood and sweat on this record has come down to pure beauty and well worth it. Looking back on it, I realized it all happened completely on accident, and now has become one of the most beautiful pieces Iâve been a part of, and to call it my own is not what I intend to do. So many wonderful additions by my partners in crime, Matthew Muñiz, long term close friend Chris Kladis, Andre Azoubel, and Anthoney Berg. Without these guys, âResembleâ would not be the record it is now, it would still be me, but not the version Iâd want it to be.â
In the future, James wants nothing more than to work on furthering his work with other musicians and creating many other projects. He is finding himself falling in love with live performing as he has with studio recording.
âI was always told if you have to âsellâ yourself, to never âsellâ yourself short. That always seemed to be a cliche to me, but it has become clear to me now that it simply means when you wake up in the morning, and all you want to do is be a singer, then you better sing. I sing because I have the need to fight the âgoodâ fight. That is my duty to educate myself about self accountability and utilize the tools I have, (my voice, my guitar) and also educate those that really listen to what I am singing about, that there are more ways than one to fight a âwarâ, that being the good fightâ
James Mitchellâs first professional release âResembleâ is due to release June 2nd 2006. It is noted to be the most personal of all of his recordings, and he pleased for it to be the first introductory album of his professional career. âResembleâ is about fighting âthe good fight,â and turning his personal tribulations into positive experiences, venting his views and convictions with a tone of aggression, however inspired lyrically by so many of his influences. James quotes his own record with one of the songs included on it. âResemble, is powerful, yet lenient.â It spins myself into a web of my own memories and the writing stems from other peopleâs experiences as well. The stories are written the way I interpreted them, but not all lived by myself..... I tend to do that.â