Biography
Having just arrived in Music City - Nashville, TN, James is ready to start teaching and performing right away! Looking to do the independent artist thing and start recording his own music and other’s as well. He has a professional studio set up for students to come and have their lessons in Antioch, TN. He has been teaching since 2011 and has been freelancing/self employed teaching privately/through private Music Schools professionally full-time since 2018, and continuing to do so now in Nashville.
Ask him about lessons and performance opportunities! Lessons also available through Skype/FaceTime.
His musicianship encompasses a variety of skills, some of which include solo guitar arrangements, improvisation, and thorough knowledge of music theory and all musical styles. He also plays 3 other instruments, including Bass Guitar, Ukulele, and Piano/Keyboards. His unique playing style can be observed from watching his YouTube and Instagram videos.
In addition to holding a B.S. in Contemporary Music from SUNY New Paltz, he has studied under some notable names in the music industry, including late jazz legend John Abercrombie, John Stowell, Fingerstyle Champion Helen Avakian, Marvin 'Bugalu' Smith, and NYC pianist Larry Ham.
Ship Life
Since December 2015, James has been working on major cruise ships as the house band/orchestra guitarist. In addition, his duties included playing solo jazz guitar sets.
Working on Carnival and Princess cruise lines in 2016, he has had the privilege to travel to exotic destinations throughout the world, such as Bora Bora, Australia, New Zealand, Hawaii, Southeast Asia, and the Caribbean, among many other destinations.
He has completed a recent contract (Oct 2017 - Jan 2018) working on the Celebrity Millennium as the Orchestra guitarist. It was just under a 4 month contract and he traveled to some awesome places in Asia. Among the countries visited were Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Vietnam, Thailand, Taiwan, Philippines, and South Korea.
Having returned from a 2 month stay traveling around Brazil (Feb - Apr 2018), and recently having moved to Nashville, James is back to teaching full-time and performing around the Nashville area and through Skype/FaceTime around the world. Contact him for more information and pricing!
