Joshua James has been writing and singing songs for only six short years, but the 25-year-old heartland poet has the perspective of a wise, old soul.
 
On his second album, Build Me This, the follow-up to his critically acclaimed The Sun is Always Brighter, produced by industry veteran Shannon Edgar, James expands his musical palette to foreboding doom-laden hard rock.  Progressing from folkish harmonies, to country twang, world beats and southern home rock while further exploring themes of spiritual searching.
 
Possessing a whispery and intimate vocal style that works its way into the ear peacefully and directly, Joshua James is pitched midway between seminal influences like Bob Dylan and Neil Young.
 
“I find solace and beauty in darkness and depression,” admits James, who grew up in his native Lincoln, Nebraska, skateboarding and sneaking listens to music his parents banned, like classic rockers Jim Morrison and The Doors, Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd, “But there are contrasts to everything. You have to combine the sweet and salty, the ugly and beautiful. Music is very therapeutic for me. It’s all about making a connection with humanity, with the audience, in ways that I normally wouldn’t be able to.”
 
Over the past three years, James has been doing just that. His debut was the #1 Folk Album on iTunes, and “FM Radio,” a song about a childhood friend coping with the death of his father, amassed more than 150,000 downloads as part of an iTunes promotion. In addition to performances at Sundance, SXSW and CMJ, James has toured with John Mayer, David Gray and Ani DiFranco, winning legions of fans along the way.
 
“I feel strongly about the things I sing about,” nods Joshua. “I want people to know how I feel, which sounds kind of dumb, because who cares how I feel? If someone feels similarly, though, that’s what I’m looking for. That’s the most important thing. If you can relate to what I’m going through, then I’ve achieved my goal.”
 
The album title, Build Me This, refers to his dream of salvation. “It’s my way of asking God to show himself,” declares James. “To prove he exists. Do something. Give me a sign. It’s a call to whatever or whoever is out there. I don’t want him to strike me down or paralyze me, just give me something to believe.”
 
Aside from the spiritual, Build Me This is also about the difficulties of everyday relationships, the inadvertent hurt we cause to those we love.  “Magazine” deals with the pain of separation (“Go take your bags to New York City, call me when your plane arrives/I’ll feed the children, wash the dishes, I’ll keep the house lookin’ nice/Well don’t you worry, everything’s gonna be all right.”), while “In the Middle” laments a shattered romance (“You’ve tried so hard to forget me/You burnt the letters I’d made/Though my memory has been dyin’/I hope the feeling still remains”).
 
On the stage, though, is where Joshua James’ music comes alive and reveals its true intent, which is about drawing people into his insular universe, a sense of mystic that only the truly great ones can communicate.
 “Perhaps the darkness comes out a little more often that I’d like,” he offers “but that’s just where I gravitate to when I’m writing. I don’t usually try to tackle specific subjects; it’s usually about what I’m feeling at the time. Things start to come out, then they form a story and a reason, and that’s how things evolve. I’m influenced by everything… by life, by love, by hate, by music.” 

Artist's Web Site

Hear an mp3 clip from Joshua James

See a YouTube clip from Joshua James

"I have always gravitated toward records that were grand and a bit overly ambitious. With "Swallow the Sea" I didn't want to go the route of the low-fi indie record. The title represents what I was going for. I also have to stay true to my roots. I'm a product of the 80's and my musical taste was shaped largely by bands like The Pixies, REM, U2, Echo and the Bunnymen and other underground bands of that time. It was the era of epic art-rock and smart pop. I ate it up. This record certainly nods to my influences without apology."
 
Ambition is evident in Matthew Perryman Jones' third record, but first proper release. From the sense of hope that swells from the darkness of the opening track to the epic reinterpretation of the spiritual, “Motherless Child” to the closing track’s two minute mantra, “Where can you go? Can you Swallow the Sea?”, this record is the sound of Jones simultaneously putting his neck on the line and shedding musical inhibitions, and finding his voice in doing so.
 
Regarding "Swallow the Sea" Jones confesses, "It seems I can’t get away from dealing with darker elements. The only way I can approach them, in my life and in my writing, is to approach them from a hopeful perspective. I think that’s apparent on this record. Otherwise, I think the inclination is to not want to address those things”¦not wanting to go there if you can’t see a way out.”
 
Jones was born near Philadelphia and relocated to Atlanta at the age of 11. As a teenager he fell in love with the bands of the nearby Athens, Georgia music scene, including R.E.M., and the likes of Guadalcanal Diary and Mary My Hope. He began writing songs in high school, where he also formed his first band, and was 15 when they recorded their first five-song demo (produced by Indigo Girls producer Don McCollister.)
 
By the mid-90s, he was fronting an Atlanta folk-rock band with steady gigs at the legendary Eddie’s Attic. As his own songwriting began to bloom and solo shows at Eddie’s followed, friends encouraged the burgeoning artist to pursue his music full-time. Before long, Jones had packed his things and was headed for Nashville. After relocating, Jones soon found a pocket of independent artists who quickly became his musical community. Touring and writing with these contemporaries has contributed to Jones' growth as an artist. In collaborating with local talents, he eventually became acquainted with producer Neilson Hubbard with whom he soon began working.
 
Swallow the Sea is Jones’ second consecutive album with Hubbard (Garrison Starr, Glen Phillips, Matthew Ryan). “With this record there was a bit of a struggle in that (musically) subtlety seems to be en vogue these days and I wanted to make a bigger record because those are the records I’ve always been into.” As he did on 2006’s Throwing Punches in the Dark, the disc finds Jones writing in a stream-of-consciousness manner, coming up with song ideas in a spur-of-the-moment fashion. “It’s kind of like getting in your car and driving around and seeing what you can find.”
 
“Save You” (co-written with Hubbard) was the first track on the record to garner attention via multiple television placements (Kyle XY, Private Practice) and resulted in an internet groundswell, as well as being the impetus for this new album. Jones’ strength as a writer is further showcased on this record from the aggressive pop of “Without a Clue” to the breezy “Amelia” and the quirky “When it Falls Apart”.