Mike James
Gig Seeker Pro

Mike James

Fair Oaks, California, United States | SELF

Fair Oaks, California, United States | SELF
Band Folk Singer/Songwriter

Calendar

Music

Press


This band has no press

Discography

I have 5 self-produced albums. They are listed below with all the songs.
Hippie Folk

1. To Let You Go

2. California

3. Sweet

4. You Know

5. I Couldn't See

6. Dead Man Walking

7. Alright

8. Burning All The Time

9. Change

10. All Of Us

11. Dirty House

Blue / A Coup Stick

1. Loosing Time

2. God Light The Sun

3. Blue

4. Strange

5. Stupid Shit

6. Tell Me

7. Take Me Out West

8. Be My Plough

9. System

SLEAZY MACHINE

1. Ya John Lennon Knew

2. Reality

3. Stealing Fate

4. My Own Sins

5. Hope

6. Hurry and Go

7. Always Doubt

8. Sleazy Machine

9. Change

10. Dirty Little Secrets

11. What Does it Mean?

12. Got A Light

Get Free
1. American Dream

2. Escape Plans

3. I Got Nothing

4. Money Talks

5. What's Real

6. Get Free

7. Careless Soul

8. Hey World

9. Hope You Get Out

10. Stupid Shit

11. Peace

Hippieblues
1. love when you smile
2. lets find a way
3. satan said so
4. i took this road
5. flying with the wind
6. shade of blue
7 dylan song
8. so confusing
9. father
10. boxcar song
11. moans
12. between noise

Photos

Bio

Singer/songwriter Mike James has his own unique style, which he calls Hippiefolk, which combines an earthy, soulful, acoustic, guitar driven, roots music, with creative vocal melodies, and passionate lyrics from the soul. He sings from the heart about love, life, spirituality, God, and the connections we all experience. He has a powerful spiritual message to deliver to the world, with a little twang. All his music, videos, websites and pictures can be viewed at http://www.reverbnation.com/mikejameshippiefolk
He has written, recorded, and self-produced 5 albums. He plays all the instruments that you hear on his recordings. He not only sings and plays the guitar but he also plays harmonica, bass guitar, drums, and keyboards. He is a natural-born songwriter. He can pull melodies out of thin air. He is a true one-man band! He shows great versatility in his singing and his lyrics. Songwriting comes naturally to him. He can tell stories through other people’s perspectives and make you believe that they happened to him. His songs strike a chord in your heart and make you feel the emotions that he is trying to convey. He describes himself as a “throwback” and likens himself to iconic artists such as, Jim Croce, Neil Young, and Bob Dylan but with a modern twist similar to the edginess of Nirvana, Foo Fighters, and Alice in Chains. His songs are timeless, relevant, touching, and hauntingly beautiful.
Mike James was born in Northern California, in a suburb of Sacramento. He is the grandson of a Bluegrass musician. At an early age he showed a high level of interest in music and began playing the violin when he was eight and the guitar at age ten. In his early teens his desire to play music faded and he began to pursue more athletic hobbies. This continued through college where Mike James enjoyed a very successful college baseball career. With only 12 units left to graduate with a degree in Philosophy, Mr. James abandoned school to pursue a more spiritual existence.
With time on his hands and a background in philosophy, Mike picked up a guitar and began to play and write songs. In 2000, he packed up his Volkswagen Vanagon and left California for North Texas to live life as a musician. There he spent 5 agonizing years playing open mics, small gigs, and the street corners of the West End in Dallas. He began to fine tune his songwriting skills and drifted to a more folky sound. In 2005, while on his way out of Texas Mike James recorded his first album titled, Hippiefolk, which is available on www.cdbaby.com/MikeJames. The record showed Mike’s ability to capture emotion with his lyrics and vocals. Although the record had some nicely written songs like “California” and “Crazy Eyes”, the lack of funds produced a pretty poorly recorded album. The lack of promotion resulted in minimal sales. Feeling discouraged by the music industry, Mr. James headed back home to California.
Back home in California Mr. James took a short break from music to once again pursue other interests. Although music was no longer his main focus he continued to write music and purse a life in the service of God. In late 2010, under the band name Nesta, Mike James released his second album titled, A Coup Stick (later re-released under artist name Mike James and entitled, “Blue”). This album was an acoustic based album with much better quality than his first release. The album shows maturity in his song writing and versatility within his style of music and his vocal range. A Coup Stick is a very good independent release also available on www.cdbaby.com/Nesta.
Mr. James finished his 3rd self-produced album, Sleazy Machine in Jan 2011. Sleazy Machine is another album showing Mike James’ ability as a songwriter. This softly produced album is pleasantly well done and the songs make you think with a refreshing perspective. He started adding more instruments on this album. This album has a slightly more electronic sound with eerie keyboard sounds and catchy guitar riffs. This album is available on www.cdbaby.com/MikeJames.
His 4th album is titled “Get Free”. It shows his vocal and lyrical genius. He is quickly developing his own style of production. The first track on the album, “American Dream” evokes a dark and sadistic feeling of government conspiracies. This album is also available on www.cdbaby.com/MikeJames.
His 5th album, titled, “Hippieblues” was just released in July of 2011. This album has more of a Blues feel. Check it out! This album is also available at www.cdbaby.com/MikeJames.
“Live and love what you’ve done.”
Mike James
Contact info: http://www.reverbnation.com/mikejameshippiefolk