Shawna James has a soulful voice and penchant for haunting melodies. Shawna's earnest and emotionally real approach to storytelling paired with the spacious, ambient sound of her own band places her at home in the modern company of Fiona Apple, Beth Orten and Lucinda Williams.
Shortly after Shawna first began making waves on the music scene in her native Cincinnati; her talents garnered a prestigious CAMMY Award for "Best Jazz Vocalist of the Year"(Cincinnati Enquirer) from her performances with The Pavilion Music Company--a 20 piece big band formed in 1975. Not one to be stylistically pigeonholed and because she wanted to honor the women who “taught†her how to sing, her versatility and country music roots also stepped to the forefront during her time with "Hey Hoss!" a Patsy Cline tribute band. Shawna is also on numerous local recordings and is featured on Big Joe Duskin’s last CD release “Big Joe Jumps Again: The Cincinnati Sessions". Shawna also has a side project that is of the dirty blues garage variety.
As Shawna's own songwriting aspirations grew, she honed her craft in venues around Cincinnati. As 2004 began, Shawna recruited a rhythm section comprised of drummer Todd Drake(Ruby Vileos), bassist Chris Mundy(Tonefarmer) and multi-instrumentalist Billy Alletzhauser (The Hiders).
Armed with a smokey, soothing, melancholy, expressive voice and deceptively simple songs that suggest a pleasingly dark amalgam of Jazz, Country, and the Blues, Shawna James offers an intriguing new alternative for discerning fans.
In 2007, Shawna James was nominated for Singer/Songwriter of the Year by local music writers, publishers and photographers that comprise the Cincinnati Entertainment Awards Committee from CityBeat Magazine.“If it doesn’t move me I don’t want anything to do with it. Most times I write from my own experiences but there is a part of me that has the ability to empathize or take on other people’s experiences.I have always said that if my songs didn’t make people feel SOMETHING there would be no point. I guess mostly though I do it for me. I spent a lot of time worrying about where it would all go or concentrating on the destination of the music and how it would fit me into the world. I finally got to a place where I just knew I needed to do it regardless of the outcome. I needed to enjoy the necessary journey or it would swallow me whole. I needed to go through the act of songwriting and then singing them live so the songs could shape themselves and be what they were to become. I grew up with music and I have never known a life without it. I only decided to learn to play guitar and write my own stuff when I turned 32. After years of not feeling connected to anything and singing along to records everyday, I finally picked up the guitar I bought years earlier and started to try and learn to play it.I don’t think I know anything about songwriting and am fine with that as being “green†never hurt anybody. I don’t believe in formulas or top 40 radio. I do believe in emotions. I believe in the way people feel. I think people could benefit by feeling more, saying what they mean and following their hearts so that what is left is meaningful-carries weight and depth.As for my debut CD HONEY, it was born out of a failed marriage and the hope that came with travel, meeting new people, experiencing anything new and knowing that no matter what a failure I felt like, love is everything. It has to be or there is nothing left and especially nothing worth while to write about.
Anyway…..I digress, I am really just a girl who likes to isolate at times to regroup and get grounded and attempt the craft that is songwriting. I need to or I'll put my head through a wall. I've only written about 20 songs. Life gets in the way and I don't get as much time as I'd like. One needs to eat and have a warm dry place to fall asleep alone you know. And if it all goes to shit I'll go ahead and become the American Lit professor I went to college for in the first place. Until then.......
View SHAWNA JAMES's EPK
for singer/songwriter stuff
all songs written by Shawna James (+ The Slacks) and copyright/property of Shawna James.Check out The Slacks digital camera video from The Poison Room (Ramones Tribute/1st show)
Please welcome Drew and Sara to Shawna's side project ThE SLacKs!! For more Slacks fun(ny)time videos go to www.youtube.com/xshaxnax
Yip!!
You should create your own MySpace Layouts like me by using nUCLEArcENTURy .COM's MySpace Profile Editor !
