Biography:

Born with music in his blood and a song in his heart, singer-guitarist Paris James began playing guitar and piano at the tender age of 7. A product of two warring factions – one grandfather headed the largest Baptist church in Georgia while the other was a notorious bootlegger who battled police- Paris James lived the blues during a turbulent childhood that crossed the American South. Music taught him there was more to life than simple survival, and Paris imparts this lesson with mojo working overdrive.
The Phoenix-area phenom’s genre-spanning tunes have their roots in the blues, coupled with the flair of rock and roll, the bounce of R&B, and the soul of gospel music. Topped with the smoothest vocals this side of Motown, Paris’s songs are characterized by their slow, sweet groove – they’re easy like a placid mountain stream on a sunny summer Sunday. His soulful rhythms are equally comfortable punctuating a rowdy, smoky barroom, inspiring audiences at an outdoor festival, or floating out over a candlelit, intimate nightclub scene.
International notoriety accompanied Paris’s 2006 recording debut Death Letter, a bluesy acoustic roots album featuring a mix of up-tempo stompers and slower wistful numbers that harken back to a bygone era. Boasting some truly wicked slide work on guitar, the album brought Paris mainstream success and earned a spot in the National Heritage Foundation Blues Hall of Fame.
Paris’s newest project, set to come out in early 2013, is a dual release consisting of musical explorations that skip across stylistic boundaries. One album will feature gripping acoustic tunes done in a modern style, while the other will boast dalliances with rock, pop, and R&B. The songs are informed by the blues, and ruminate on the universal themes and feelings that connect us all. Like all Paris James releases, the new music will showcase glass-smooth and sugar-rich vocals, searing hot guitar work, and that primal, raw spark that makes your soul come alive.