Music
Press
“Categorizing Lanman’s music would be a bit of a challenge. Listening to songs from either albums remind me of all different kinds of musicians. At some points it fits in the veins of people like Gavin Degraw and The Honorary Title while at others the songs also have a very gothic feel that I would put more in line with The Smiths and Heavens. These albums could be for fans of about any genre of music.” - Heather Finley of Kingbanana.net
“Kinda Coldplay meets The Script. Smash!” - Kip Rocksellout.com’s Smash or Trash
“It sounds like melting ice cream.” - Franziska Hasford of the Süddeutsche Zeitung Munic, Germany
“The music of James Lanman inspires me to dance like a freak/make love like a savage/drinks beers on couches with good friends and engage in good conversation. Thanks for that.” - Jenny Mayoc The Jenny Show Santa Barbara, Ca
“It’s official: I am completely addicted to James’ music. I think I have no choice but to buy the album immediately, Seriously do yourselves a favor and go to his myspace page asap — the music is ridiculously good!” - Pam of Mapcidy New York City, NY
Discography
Asphalt Roads(2008) CD
The Guesthouse Sessions(2009) EP
Chicago(2009) Single
Photos
Bio
The story of James Lanman as a professional musician starts in New York City at Tisch School of the Arts, wanders through Italy for a year and comes away with a guitar, returns to the Bay Area to finish college at UC Berkeley, sells everything, becomes a minimalist and moves to London to live in a bathroom, turns up on a couch in Seattle, finishes an album and alights in Los Angeles...and that’s just the beginning.
As if being raised by parents with musical tastes ranging from The Supremes to Lauryn Hill, Nat King Cole to Pavarotti, Depeche Mode to Mozart (and the ‘Good Morning Vietnam’ Soundtrack on tape that he, “…listened to on repeat for at least six months straight…” ) wasn’t enough to give James an eclectic base of sounds to draw from for inspiration, couple the musical tastes of his parents to the music of the 1990’s that his older brother exposed him to from bands like Soundgarden, Nirvana and Pearl Jam during his formative years and the result is a wolf in sheep’s clothing.
Heather Finley of Kingbanana.net put it best in a review of James’ work so far. ”Categorizing Lanman’s music would be a bit of a challenge. Listening to songs from either albums remind me of all different kinds of musicians. At some points it fits in the veins of people like Gavin Degraw and The Honorary Title while at others the songs also have a very gothic feel that I would put more in line with The Smiths and Heavens. These albums could be for fans of about any genre of music.” Among the many comparisons drawn, his music is frequently compared to other “genre transcendent” pioneers such as Jeff Buckley, Elliott Smith and David Byrne, artists who could rattle the foundations on which genres are built and create music without boundaries.
Playing packed debut shows to 150 people in San Francisco and Los Angeles, filming three music videos, touring the West Coast and placing 2nd in Airwalk’s Unsigned Hero Contest as the only solo artist out of hundreds of bands worldwide, hasn’t been a bad start to the inevitably long journey to mass recognition.
In July 2009 James relocated from Los Angeles to Seattle and formed a band around his solo act with Max Wood of local New Wave sensation, Hotels, on drums, Jesse Summers on Bass and Max Brockman on Lead Guitar with plans on releasing new material as early as Winter 2010. With his initial work and performances being received with such enthusiastic praise, one can only imagine where his career is headed next.
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