Nathan James

"I was born in the flint hills cut my teeth on a rattlesnake rode a bobcat to school flew a chicken hawk home." So sayeth Nathan's grandfather, Jerry Hoover, in a song called "Son of the Flint Hills." He definitely don't remember that rattlesnake. I reckon he cut his teeth before memories could take hold. Nonetheless, Nathan hails from the land of the flint hills in Eastern Kansas. Some of the earliest memories to take hold are those of family song circles, often featuring the original songs of Grandpa Jerry. Nathan didn't take to music so early, however. It may have been part of that same old mean old rebellious streak that had'im throwin that damn Tonka truck at his brother or runnin away in the middle of a snowstorm. Anyway, the first guitar he was ever given was built by Jerry, and Nathan promptly traded it for a Roger Rabbit comic book complete with an audio cassette. It wasn't long before that musical rattlesnake would catch up with him, though. Starting in his high school choir, shaving lines in his eyebrows and singing R+B accapella with a group called 2 TONE, and eventually falling for the guitar, Nathan began to fall in the family footsteps by writing his own songs. At 20, Nathan travelled with his brother Noah (see Noah Earle) to Hollywood, California, to try for the big time with Mr. L entertainment. After much promise and more discontent, Nathan and Noah returned to Kansas with their minds made up never to return. Since that return, Nathan has been writing and playing for his own fulfillment, refusing to come too close to letting it take over his life. A few years into Portland, Oregon, and the great NW, Nathan is now beginning to perform in front of small audiences and to record. Stay tuned for more, and in the meantime, check out the band that Nathan also plays in, Keep Your Fork There's Pie!!!