 Natasha James, a singer-songwriter from Northern California, is a rising artist on the Americana music scene. Her debut album, Bad Judgements, features rock, country, bluegrass, and blues persuasions. Her sophomore release, Tequila Time, debuted on the Roots Charts at #20 in the country. We talked tequila, travel, and more in our Q&A with her:
www.natashajames.com
NCC: What was it like to begin playing and singing in blues clubs at age 14?
NJ: It really didn't feel like anything out of the ordinary; it was just what I was doing. I had always been entertaining people- at school when I was eight I would play for them, then as kids at the beach we would make up jingles and dances for commercials and perform them for the adults at cocktail hour...that's just what we did. I did get to perform alot of 20's & 30's blues: Sippie Wallace, Bessie Smith, stuff I was listening to at the time.
NCC: What made you pursue music instead of an acting/modeling career?
NJ: Really I was never interested in modelling as a career. My mother got me started in it when I was 4; I liked the clothes, but I was always happy to take them off and put on sweats! As for acting, well acting was the world that I was surrounded in and I enjoyed it - I write character-driven plays and short stories - but it did not pull me in the way music always did. You know, just because you have a talent for something, people think you ought to do it, and that is certainly what my mother had in mind for me. I would not say that I pursued music either, it is just what I always have to do. I would say that music pursued me and I give in. I love music, I can't not write, and I can't leave it alone. My relationship with music is like with a lover: can't live with it; can't live without it.
NCC: You've traveled and lived in many countries... what are your favorite places to travel to/play at?
NJ: I have favourite places to play and favourite places to travel, they are not always the same. Some of my favourite places to do both are London, I love the energy - I think of London as the NYC of Europe, and I love NYC – Ireland, always treats its' artists so well; Scotland, the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany have so much enthusiasm; Lugano, Switzerland has a special place in my heart. I met my soulmate friend there, Shaun Johnston, to whose memory Tequila Time, the CD, is dedicated, along with my longtime friend and sax player, Martin Fierro. I have a new favourite place that I have never been, and hope to get booked, Barcelona. I am fascinated by the Gaudi architecture, the food, the music clubs, the terrain. I love Mexico, Spain, Italy, Greece, and I really want to get to Australia and South America as I have not played there (yet). We are booked in Austin, Texas this Sept 5th at The Backyard for the Gulf Oil Relief Concert, and I am super excited about that! To be involved with such a worthwhile cause and playing in Austin, Texas is thrilling! This world is amazing. There is not enough time in life to do it all. We can try.
NCC: Your Facebook page says you love water.... ocean or lake?
NJ: Any water, even a stream...but I love the Adriatic, the Gulf of California, and any lake. Being near water and surrounded by tall trees, a mountainous climate over 6500 ft, is my ideal setting.
NCC: Did your love for tequila inspire your sophomore album title and track, "Tequila Time?"
NJ: Well, it certainly inspired the song! The Baja really inspired that song. But each song really has an individual inspiration. There is a story to each one, some quite personal, some conceptual.
NCC: You're a reader... what are 3 books you have read recently?
NJ: The Lacuna, by Barbara Kingsolver, was given to me by my best friend, Pat, for my birthday - terrific book!; On Gold Mountain, by Lisa See, someone I knew as a teenager and was delighted to find out she is a terrific writer, amazing writer!; and Rain of Gold, Victor Villasenor. I tend to like historical fiction based on fact.
NCC: You're also a fan of photography...what kinds of things do you like to photograph?
NJ: I don't take alot of photos myself; I admire other people's work. I like black and white photography or startling colour, as well as stark or staggering imagery and subject matter; great landscapes and complex people, anything that makes a complete statement. Some of my favourites are Tina Modotti, Mary Ellen Mark, Larry Clark, Berenice Abbott and my friend, Jean Porter, who is now in her eighties and still takes assignments for National Geographic.
NCC: What artists are currently in your cd player/ipod?
NJ: Well I don't have an iPod, but currently in my CD player are: Run C&W, Robert Earl Keen, Mitch Ryder, The Duhks and Amos Lee.
NCC: Did you write/co-write all of the songs on "Tequila Time"?
NJ: I wrote 12 of the 15 tunes on Tequila Time. The other 3 were written by my keyboard player, Herman Eberitzsch, which I then put my arrangements on.
NCC: What is your favorite track(s) on "Tequila Time"?
NJ: I don’t have a favourite track, really. I like different songs for different moods. Tequila Time is one of my favourite tracks to perform: it always makes people bouncy and happy. I don't get tired of performing it, and I love Tex-Mex guitar and pedal steel leads and accordion. Recording you can't let the bellows out and on the outtakes you can hear Ed Roth groan...I kinda wish we had left that in! Modern Life is another of my “pet” songs. That one I always enjoy singing and the lyrics still excite me.
NCC: How do you explain your current success in Japan? (she is currently at no.1)
NJ: If You Think This Is Love, is the single that is number one in Japan. To explain my success there? I don't know how to explain anything in this business. It's a great single; I'm glad it's #1 somewhere.
NCC: You like to ski... are you a fan of any other sports?
NJ: I like to waterski although I haven't done it much. I like to watch the Baja races, they are absolutely wild. Some of the NASCAR guys race the Baja. I like NASCAR, Robby Gordon, number seven car. I like water volleyball, totally unserious fun.
NCC: How does "Bad Judgements" different compared to "Tequila Time"?
NJ: Bad Judgements is way more of an Outlaw album than it seems. The sax gives it another flavour. Now, since Martin passed, we play alot of those tunes with slide guitar so you immediately get the outlaw bit. I really love that record; I am very proud of it. Some people have critiqued that my vocals are way down in the mix, but that's okay, I was really more about texture at the time. Also, so many times you get to playing songs differently after you've been out with them live awhile, they evolve, which is why we have talked about going out with the new tunes before we lay them down, we’ll see if that happens. I aim to get another record out this year. There are some new songs I have written that I am really excited about, my new babies. We will be performing a couple of them at upcoming shows.
But getting back to Tequila Time, sorry, it has more southern rock, country and acoustic blues than Bad Judgements, which had more outlaw country, more jazzy rock, bluegrass and cajun.
NCC: Who are some of the songwriters you have collaborated with on your albums?
NJ: I collaborated with my keyboard player, Herman, on the 3 tunes he had written that we put on Tequila Time. Other than that, it’s just me.
NCC: What is your favorite aspect of performing live?
NJ: Oh, it has got to be the energy, with both the band and the audience, the buzz of a great great gig where all that connected synergistic energy just flows back and forth and you are SO right in it is just a great great feeling! That’s what you live for, those great times. The San Felipe Tequila Festival in Baja, Mexico, was that way for us: playing for almost 3 hours the first Friday night from before sunset until dark with the sea spray behind us, the lights gradually coming on, the audience below us so up close and nearby, swaying to the music, knowing the words…there was a magic happening…almost feels like you are going up in a spaceship. I love it!
Interview/Article by: Kelsey Lantrip
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