Sometimes we reach out to the artists, sometimes they reach out to us. James is one who surprisingly reached out to us. Surprisingly, because James is someone we should’ve been reaching out to! Not only does this man and his band rock, but James is also friends with a lot of the artists I interact with. James was kind enough to send over his debut, full-band, and full-length album South of Mars, which releases tomorrow! However, before the album (and article) drops, we thought we should do a Spotlight on James, so everyone can hopefully get a better idea of who James is behind his music. Because really, who is James Gedda?
James Gedda is an artist from Crown Point, IN, who plays solo, duo, or with a full band under the name James Gedda & The Big Breakfast. James started playing music in his late teens saying “I was 17 when I got my first guitar, though my voice dropped several years before, and I started to figure out my voice lent itself to the Johnny Cash songs I’d heard all my life growing up.” and that “Creative writing and poetry were passions of mine as the emotional turbulence of adolescence washed over me. Eventually, as I got out of high school and went off to college at Ball State, these disparate elements combined into a passion for songwriting. Not just emulating and covering the old songs I’d grown up loving, but making it all my own,” is what drew him to it.
James said he’d describe his sound as “Midwestern Americana. Rootsy, decidedly old-school, with a focus on storytelling and lyricism. Fast, feverish songs you feel in your bones and slow, sad songs you feel in your gut. With the full band, there’s also an element of jam band-esque improvisation and playful musicianship, by virtue of cutting my teeth in a local music scene that’s very jammy and free-flowing.”
Where did James’s inspiration to start making music come from? He said, “As mentioned, my desire to make music came about from realizing I could do a fair approximation of the old country songs I’d grown up around and fell in love with, combined with my passion for the written word and creative writing. Every time I dug deeper into songwriters my heroes admired or artists they took inspiration from, I became hungrier and hungrier to learn more and take what tricks I could from what they were doing. The literary narratives from Kris Kristofferson led me to the overpowering melancholy of Townes Van Zandt, which then introduced me to the plainspoken playfulness of the likes of Guy Clark and John Prine. The deeper in I got, the more it drove me to try and do it justice with my own offerings. Not sure if I’ve succeeded, but that’s where the drive came from.”
What artists inspired James to start making music? He told us, “There’s the obvious ones, many of whom I’ve already discussed: Cash, Hank, Waylon, Willie, Townes, Kristofferson, Prine, etc. But what really pushed me to go after this as more than a hobby or passion project was when I first heard guys like Justin Townes Earle, Wayne Hancock, Dale Watson, Hank III, and later on with folks like Jason Isbell. Artists who were still rooted in (or at least evocative of) traditional country and roots sounds and themes but not simply serving as nostalgia acts. Pushing the art form and the culture around it in a new direction to new audiences that was decidedly separate from the overbearing pop-country of the day.”
What’s been James’s favorite show and/or venue to play so far? He said, “Early in October, I played a show at Burn ‘Em Brewing in Michigan City, IN, with my lead player, Jack Whittle’s band opening. I don’t do proper shows nearly as much as I do what a friend of mine calls “wallpaper gigs.” Tucked away in the corner, competing with the TVs for the attention of the regular crowd that were gonna be there anyway. I’m thankful for those gigs, cause they keep my bills paid, but it’s not the same as playing to an audience that came (and paid) to see you specifically. There’s a different pressure to that. And the folks at Burn ‘Em went all out. They made a Big Breakfast stout specifically for the show as well as a special Big Breakfast burger. Both were incredible, on top of being a real honor to have attributed to my band. The turnout was pretty good and very enthusiastic, and it was a good reminder of the direction I really ought to be going with my original music. A step in the right direction.”
What’s your dream venue to play at? He told us, “As cliché and obvious as it is to say, the Ryman. There are a lot of places I want to play at, like Carol’s in Chicago or Gruene Hall down in Texas, but the Ryman is the top of the list. So much history has passed through that place, and it would be the honor of my life to even be able to play one song on stage at the mother church of country music. I have a song on my Hollering in a Bar EP, “Never Play the Ryman,” that I wrote a long time ago as a means of trying to make peace with the fact that I’ll probably never get there. Though, to be honest, it’s also a bit of an attempt at reverse psychology, should that song ever get into the ears of anyone who makes decisions for that place. Fingers crossed.”
What has been a major turning point in James’s career so far? He said, “One of the big turning points for my career was making friends with Matt Moran. Getting to know him led to not only a new lifelong friend but my first trip down to Oklahoma, as well as bringing him up to my neck of the woods. That led to playing Sad By Southwest the past few years and making even more new friends with that cast of characters like JR Tully, Zach Welch, and Payton Matous. It helped me believe that my songs are good on their own, not just cause I’m the old country guy in a local music scene without much old country. The online circle of friends I’ve made, like Matt, Will Payne Harrison, Rebecca Porter, Van Plating, etc., helped teach me there are working-class musicians like me all over the country, and we’re all trying to get out more and meet new folks and ply our trade for new audiences. To even use the term ‘networking’ feels too impersonal or business-minded. It’s a nice reminder that we’re not in this alone, as often as it can feel like that on weekday mornings, sending booking inquiries out into the void or on long, late-night drives back from bad gigs.” Shout out to every person James just mentioned, they are all some amazing people!
What is something about James and the band people might not expect? He said,“With the full band shows, I don’t think folks always expect how rock n roll it can be. Folks hear my voice and the type of songs I play and think they have me all figured out, but when I’m up there with my brothers and we have 3 or 4 hours to kill, we’re gonna get loud and get a little weird because: A) it’s fun and B) it helps contrast with the more mellow songs or the more light-touch swing grooves and waltzes. I love bringing the volume and the energy way down when we do songs like “In Tall Buildings” or my original “Lonesome Lover’s Lullaby,” and it makes it hit that much harder when we follow up with something like “Goddamn Lonely Love” or the last couple choruses of my song “Townes.”
What does James hope people feel and take away from his music? He told us, “I love sad songs. I love to settle into them like a warm bath and just lose myself for 4 minutes or so and indulge in that sort of self-pity, remembering the worst I’ve ever hurt and then feel it wash away as the song ends. Or be reminded of when I’ve been mad and indignant watching someone I love go through one of life’s various cruelties. Or look back on the best times of my life and wistfully realize they’re further behind me than they feel. Songs, especially story songs, allow for a kind of emotional tourism and catharsis. That’s what I wanna bring to folks.”
What does success look like for James in music? He said, “Success, for me, looks like being able to play songs I love for people that wanna hear them, wherever they might be. It looks like being able to get a decent-sized room, respectably full in cities across the country (or the world) for the one or two times a year I come through. It looks like being able to pay the bills with just original music, and for my brothers who play with me to be able to do the same. It looks like having the respect of my peers and contemporaries as someone who is good at what he does, and every once in a while, being able to kick off the show for an artist whose station is a tier or two higher than mine. I still have stars in my eyes, but even with age and cynicism creeping in, it still feels just within reach.”
How does James balance music with the rest of his life? He told us,“Right now, mostly playing on weekends and mostly within a 90-minute drive home, it’s not too difficult to balance music and life. My partner goes off to work in the morning and I slowly get up and about behind her, feeding the cats, making coffee, and handling a couple chores or errands before I sit in front of the computer and handle the boring, back-end work of doing all this. I’m close to my folks and my nieces and my friends, able to make time for all of them whenever I’m not playing a show. I want to tour more and go out further and be busier, but the prospect of having less and less time for life outside of music can be a bit intimidating.”
What’s one piece of advice James would give to someone just starting out in music? He said, “Meet more musicians around you. It could be an open mic, it could be a jam night, it could be a coffee house, whatever. It can often feel like the music business is all national acts and big venues, and so far out of reach. But I guarantee that the music business is happening in some capacity somewhere around you, and that means there are friends to be made and lessons to be learned. You don’t really know if a song is good until you’ve played it in front of folks a few times. You don’t really know how addictive this life can be until you’re locked into the groove with a rhythm section behind you. You’re not alone in wanting to go after this, and the other people going after it around you are your lifeline. Not competition.”
Regarding new music, James said, I’ll be releasing my very first full-length, full-band album, South of Mars, on November 21st! It’s a long time coming, and I’m so glad to have it headed out into the world. It’s a good portrait of where I’m at as a writer and performer these days, but also a better picture of what to expect when I have a full band behind me. The best versions of some of my best songs, and I’m sincerely hoping that this will be one of the things to introduce my music to more people and get me out just a little bit further.” let me tell y’all as someone who got to listen to this album early I couldn’t agree more and I’m excited for this album to be out tomorrow!
You can keep up with what James is doing on social media under James Gedda pretty much everywhere or on jamesgeddamusic.com. James also runs a Patreon for anyone who wants to more directly help support his music at patreon.com/jamesgedda
Thank you for reading this week’s artist spotlight! I hope you enjoyed getting to know who James Gedda is behind his music. Go check him out, and go catch him at a show. As always, be good to yourself, stay western, and stay tuned!
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