BIO

Songwriter, Lead Vocals, Guitar, Harmonica, Keyboards.

Taking piano lessons at seven years old didn’t really seem to gain much interest with James. But when he became eight he was "forced" to join the Saint Paul’s Cathedral Boys Choir. This was something that he did latch onto because he found out he had a very good ear for music and could sing anything that was asked of him. The highlight was performing with the Pittsburgh Symphony in Carnegie Hall where he and another boy were to sing a cappella in one portion of the performance. This performance was also turned into an album. It turns out that this experience had a major influence when he began composing songs later in life. Even as a boy, he was making up his own songs and was also influenced by the Beatles, their melodies and harmonies.

The ability to take life experiences and put them to song has developed itself and has become his strength. In 1976, he was urged to join up with 3 other musicians to form a band. Having messed around with a guitar very little, he was apprehensive, but with coaxing by the other guys became a part of a band called "Paladin". Within a couple of months, he had written his first song with them and continued to grow as a writer and performer with Paladin, who became more and more into performing original music.

After Paladin, he became the lead singer for "The Features", a new wave offering that had reasonable success and had maintained a good following of fans. He continued to write songs and assisted in helping some of the other guys in their writing.

The Features disbanded and James began working on a project called "Masque", which was a rock musical about a day in the life of a boy who had to face many decisions in life that we all face. This was ultimately recorded and performed live with an onstage collection of 13 musicians, including some of the current members of "James". The recording, which was produced by Tim Hadley, still stands dear to James’ heart as something special because of the message it sent, the success and hard work of all of the people involved.

James briefly performed as The Jim Buckley Band, but soon abandoned that and eventually his involvement in music completely.

Twenty years later, though, in 2003, as he was transferring some of these old songs he had written and recorded from tape to CD, some of his family wanted to hear it and reluctantly he gave them a copy to hear. This copy and others eventually got passed around and through the encouragement of his wife and many others he decided to try and make a return to music. He picked up his songwriting skills right where he left off and began writing with a vengeance. A couple of his songs have been recorded by some prominent local artists and was released on a CD called "Nied's Hotel". Many other songs have spawned and with the help of his longtime friends in "James", they have made these "ideas" into songs that contain the passion and emotion for which they were intended.

For more info go to:
www.james-music.com