Alec James
I met Alec about 12 years ago in St. Louis, Mo. at a place call the Blues City Deli. He would play in different local bands there. I am not sure how many years he lived here and played. I do know that whenever I knew he would be playing at The Blues City Deli I made sure I was there. Alec is an amazing guitar player, he was one of the best in St. Louis, Mo. when he lived here, he is still amazing guitar player. Alec is one those smooth guitar players, he could be up on stage and be playing a cool Blues riff and stay so cool and calm through the whole thing. While he was living here, Alec was a sought-after guitar player. When some big-name artist came into town they would ask for Alec to join them. Another thing I remember about Alec is that he is such a nice guy and always willing to talk to you about music or anything else. Alec just put out a new EP, I think it might be his first. All I know is that it’s Damn good, you can go to his FB page and order one. The link is below along with some questions I was able to ask Alec. I am going to do a review of Alec’s new EP, the name of the EP is “Samara” has 5 tracks. One of my favorite songs on the EP is track 3 “Living Soul” this song has a great groove to it, kind of a Bluesy/Swing style… Really shows off Alec’s guitar skills. Track 2 “Repentance” has a bit more meat to it as far as Alec’s guitar playing, has that rough edge on the Blues side. All other songs are top notch, but these are my two favorites. If you have never heard Alec play before, I highly recommend this EP for an introduction. I have a link to Alec’s Facebook page, plus some questions I had the pleasure of asking Alec. https://www.facebook.com/alec.james.79 1.How long have you been playing music? I’ve been playing guitar since I was 14. I only played sporadically while I was in the Army for 3 ½ years. So, I’ve been playing for about 30 years. Sometimes I play more and sometimes play less as far as hours per week. 2.How many bands have you been in? I’ve been in 5 bands. 3 of them were working and playing regularly 2- 5 times per week. I was playing in local bars in Connecticut when I was 16 or 17. I had to have a parent with me because I was underage. We were a good band playing Allman Brothers, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Rolling Stones, Cream, Santana, etc. It was fun, we played a lot. I remember going to school being tired from playing gigs all weekend. 3.Where were you born? Waltham, Massachusetts. 4.Are you self-taught? Now, I have taken weekly guitar lessons for about 3 years. I was able to play by ear and pick up things from recordings and music books from then on. I still learn from online sources and music books. I listen to other guitar players every day that inspire and influence my playing. 5.Who are your biggest influences? When I started off it was the usual rock star type players like Eric Clapton, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jimi Hendrix, Santana, Joe Walsh, Angus Young, Jimmy Page, and Ace Frehley. I was taught about Grant Green, Kenny Burrell, Wes Montgomery, John Coltrane, and James Brown’s guitarists by my guitar teacher, and I still look to these players for inspiration, technique and guitar theory. It didn’t take me long after I started playing to find Albert Collins, Albert King, Muddy Waters and Buddy Guy. Later came Ronnie Earl, T-Bone Walker, Duke Robillard, Kid Ramos, Monster Mike Welch, Hollywood Fats. My playing is still influenced by these players. Recently I’ve rediscovered Santana and Latin rock and John McLaughlin and Clapton. A young guitarist I’ve been listening to out of England named Chris Buck is really impressive because he isn’t like a lot of the shredder type of rock and blues players around today, he’s really tasteful. I’m really influenced by saxophone players lately too. I really like listening to any guitar player that is really saying something within blues or jazz. I just love guitar. Everyone has their own interpretation of it which is interesting to me. 6.What style of music do you consider yours? Certainly blues. I just naturally gravitate towards a more purist type of blues. I feel my playing has elements of rock, jazz, and soul too. 7.What was your first gig? How old were you? It’s hard to remember when my first gig was, but it was either a local bar called Holly J’s or a pizza place/bar we used to play in East Hampton, Ct. I was 16 or 17. 8.What advice do you have for someone starting out in the music business? Play and learn as much as possible, record, and network. Get out of the small-town mentality. I guess this could apply to anyone in the music business. 9.Do you write your own songs? I write riffs and chord progressions. Not necessarily songs with lyrics. I consider myself more of a guitar player for hire. 10.What would people be surprised to hear that you have in your personal record collection? I don’t know. I have a wide range of music I listen to. I’m not sure anyone would be surprised. I guess some of the Latin and classical music I listen to would certainly be outside what most people think of when they hear me play. 11.What would you be doing if playing music was not an option? I would do something involving fitness or involving books. Of course, now that I have a daughter I would be spending time with her. 12.Besides your own songs, what is your favorite song to perform? I don’t really have a favorite. I always enjoy playing blues and all the different varieties. 13. If you were strictly a songwriter, who would you like to see sing your songs? I would like to see Willie Nelson because he has such a great way of delivering and singing a song. My second choice would be Steve Perry from Journey. What a great voice. Who wouldn’t want him to sing one of your songs? His voice is near perfect especially for more rock/songwriter type songs. If it was blues Darrel Nulisch and if jazz Kurt Elling.
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AuthorHello, My name is Michael. I am into music, have been for over 48yrs. Big fan of all kinds of music, right now it has been the Blues for the last 10yrs. I do not play any instruments, But I very interested in the recording aspect of the industry. Have messed around with it a little and always learning new things about it. I have met many wonderful people because of Music.. Hope you enjoy my Blogs... In the last two years I have been producing House Concerts. I also in the past 2 years got to produce and engineer an album for a very good friend of mine from Sweden "Magpie". Archives
February 2024
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