James Bolos
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James Bolos

Band Alternative Singer/Songwriter

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"Songwriter Bolos on stage this Friday"

A Wallaceburg singer-songwriter is hosting a concert this Friday at the Jeanne Gordon Theatre.
Bolos, the owner of the historic downtown Fiesta Restaurant, performed a private show on Aug. 30 for family, friends and downtown merchants at his restaurant.
"It was kind of a thank you show for a lot of the downtown businesses and family and friends that have supported me in the past year," Bolos said.
Bolos was in bands in his highschool and university days. After school everyone went there separate ways and Bolos hasn't performed since.
Since he graduated from university a few years ago Bolos has been writing songs. "I'm finally happy with the set of songs I have," Bolos said.
The CD will have 12 songs. "Those are the ones that I'm comfortable with now and happy to play in front of people." - David Gough, Courier Press


"Wallaceburg singer/songwriter James Bolos unveils his new material"

Wallaceburg singer/songwriter James Bolos as on stage at the Jeanne Gordon Theatre on Friday evening, performing a set of original material he hopes to release on CD in early 2008. Bolos took up the guitar 10 years ago, but spent his early years playing in bands and has only recently started to write and perform as a solo artist. He says he writes "melodramatic" power ballads and the music has a somewhat serious tone inspired by his father's death 1 1/2 years ago.
"A lot of the material is based on events in my life - relationship, heartbreak, but there's music also that deals with the death of my Dad," he said. - John Gardiner, CK Times


Discography

In Production2008

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Bio

Although many singer/songwriters can be found working day jobs in restaurants, James Bolos has a slightly different story. You can find him in his hometown operating a family restaurant by day and working meticulously on many other projects throughout all hours of the night.

Bolos familiarized himself with music at a young age following the vocal melodies of radio songs on his toy keyboard and searching for new music on the radio while lying in bed before falling asleep.

James started performing with his first high school band in 1997 and formed a new band in 2001 while in university. After playing shows throughout Southwestern Ontario and Michigan over a two year period and working with producer Daniel Victor (Neverending White Lights) James and his band mates went separate ways and decided to stop performing.

Following university Bolos spent his time back home with family before carrying on to Windsor and then Toronto in pursuit of careers in film and music. In May of 2006, his father died of cancer. Shortly after the death of his father, Bolos left his budding videography career and a city of friends, excitement and opportunity behind to return to his hometown to run the restaurant his father had owned and operated since the late sixties.

In the Fall of 2006 Bolos made time to record some demo tracks he had been writing for his debut release. The songs were self-produced and recorded at night in his studio apartment above teh restaurant after it closed. What started out as a few vocal tests quickly became a batch of twelve demos that James became increasingly eager to record professionally for his debut CD.

The twelve songs dealt with the common theme of past relationships, but many were influenced by the death of his father and having to say goodbye.

After a three year hiatus from performing Bolos decided the time was right to expose the new material. He filled his restaurant for his debut solo acoustic performance and packed the local theatre two months later drawing the attention of local newspapers, musicians and other curious concert-goers.

Playing acoustic versions of his songs, James also builds an aural landscape to perform over utilizing two keyboards, a loop pedal, tambourine and other percussion. The end result is a live representation of his songs closely resembling the sound he is striving for on his debut release.

Although the added instruments create a unique experience for the listener, the songs are strong without the added accompaniment as demonstrated in Civic Park where Bolos performed acoustically for the 2007 Christmas festivities.

When asked where his career in music is going, Bolos enthusiastically states "I'm taking the rest of the year off from performing so I can finally record my CD. I'd like to have an EP out by Spring and be performing outside the local area. I also want to work on getting some film and TV placements next year."

James has made his mark locally but is eager to expose a full-length album to the international masses. He can be seen and heard on the net:
www.youtube.com/jamesbolos
www.myspace.com/jamesbolos