At the beginning of it all, I was scrambling trying to first learn the art of approaching a musician and asking for their performance, and second to convince a local singer-songwriter to actually agree to perform in the first Singacoustic show. That was a challenge, to convince a good singer-songwriter to give me their time and just who am I? I’ve been a sound engineer for over 30 years and it accounted for nothing because no one knows me as a promoter, producer, or whichever title you can throw at me. None of it matters. I would do my Google search, contact people I know in the industry, and I would stay up till the wee hours of the morning sending emails and all I get would either be a kind rejection or no reply at all. Hello, challenge. Bring it on
Through my google search one night I came upon a singer-songwriter named Chris James as a solo act and to find out that he is the frontman for a great band called Chris James and the Showdowns. I tuned into his website and the first song I listened to was “The City Speaks To Me” with its rocking bluesy style, and his strong confident voice came out; just like the song, his voice speaks to me.
I emailed Chris earlier on in the process of starting this endeavor, I believe the name of the company was different back, had to change the domain name of the company from Hotmittensproduction.com to Hotmittens.com just to make it easier and faster .I approached him with the idea of Singacoustic and we decided to chat on the phone for a bit. Chris is a very easy person to talk with, we spent a few minutes on the phone, I explained my idea and my vision and Chris was interested and even thanked me for my support for local musicians. That was a great boost for my ego for sure. Ending the conversation, I got a tentative agreement from Chris that he would love to perform for Singacoustic and I promised him the headliner spot on the show, regardless of who else I would succeed in recruiting for the show.
Fast forward a few months later, I sent Chris another email but from a new email, as I mentioned before that the name changed, and he replied that he’s been wondering what happened to Singacoustic and the project I was working on the first time we talked. I explained that things changed a bit and that I had a date and venue for the event; it was a done deal. I looked on Chris James’s site and found out that he doesn’t have a gig on October 29, and I booked the venue for the day, just to have Chris James as a solo act and the headliner for the first Singacoustic event. Chris James was the first singer-songwriter that I approached, and the first one to be confirmed for the first show. 🙏
From the great state of Maine, Chris is now a San Francisco Bay Area singer-songwriter, with some badass musicians supporting him, Chris James and the Showdowns is a band worth listening to. So go on, support your local musicians, they are awesome.
Not only is Chris James a great guitar player but also a great harmonica player. I always admired those that play the harmonica while playing guitar, to me, it is a special skill that most guitar players do not have, and that makes them special, in my opinion.
Thank you, Chris James. It’s been an honor and a privilege to have met you. You are a rock star.