Brit soul singer goes acoustic on first U.S. tour

By JIM TRAGESER - Staff Writer | Thursday, March 13, 2008 12:21 PM PDT ∞

Growing up in the south of England in the 1980s and '90s, you might think singer Nate James would have found his path to the R&B music he now performs through the London soul scene of the time ---- artists such as Junior or Soul II Soul.

But it was going to church in North Carolina and performing stage musicals in high school that led to his career path.

"My dad's from North Carolina ---- Tobacco Road, Greensboro," James said by phone from New York, where his American tour was getting started. (He appears Wednesday at Dizzy's in San Diego.) He said his introduction to music was from "going over to see my grandparents and cousins when I was 4, 5 years old, going to church; the whole gospel thing was like, 'Wow, music can really touch people and be a very spiritual thing.' "

Back home in England, James said his childhood was spent growing up in Woodbridge, east of London, in Suffolk.

"Woodbridge is kind of a quiet riverside town, a retirement town," he explained, describing the entertainment options as "a swimming pool and five pubs."

But it was while in high school in Woodbridge that James got his first opportunity to sing in public. He said he began appearing in school musical productions when he was 15 or 16: " 'Aladdin' and 'Cabaret' and 'Fiddler on the Roof.' "

After graduating from high school, he moved to London to pursue acting and music, and ended up forming an R&B band, an outfit called Notorious.

"We never recorded anything," he said. "We were kind of ... like a U.K. version of New Edition ---- the bad boys of R&B; rock, soul, something different as far as the U.K. was concerned."

But, James said, even then he was wary of how the music business chews up and spits out young talent.

"I took a timeout from music, angry at the industry," he said of a decision to leave London and move back home. "I was a hotel manager back in Woodbridge."

But he said the demos he'd cut both as singer and actor followed him home, and soon he "started getting calls from producers in London saying, 'We love your voice ---- we want to work with you.' "

When he delved back into the music business a second time, though, he went in as a songwriter.

"I signed a deal with Universal Music Publishing before I signed any record deal as an artist.

"I sat down to write songs for other people, but ended up writing my own album because I didn't want to share any of my songs."

His second stab at the music business had come on the heels of a tough breakup with his girlfriend at the time, and James said he used his songwriting as a sort of therapy.

"A lot of people get on the phone and howl to their girlfriends or mates, but I sit down and write songs," he said, laughing.

Folks who come to see James at Dizzy's after having heard his two CDs ("Set the Tone" from 2005, and last year's "Kingdom Falls") are in for a treat, he said. While those two albums featured full R&B bands, with horn section, guitars and backing singers, for this tour, he's a solo act: just him and his acoustic guitar, yet still playing the songs from those two releases. It's his first U.S. tour, James explained, and for reasons budgetary and artistic, he decided to leave the band at home this initial go-round with his American fans.

"People hearing me for the first time, it's important that they hear the songs rather than something too overproduced.

"When I come back over in May, there will be a full band. My boys from the U.K. will be here" then.

Nate James with Steph Johnson

When: 8 p.m. Wednesday

Where: Dizzy's, San Diego Wine & Culinary Center, Second Avenue and J Street, San Diego

Tickets: $10

Info: (858) 270-7467 or dizzyssandiego.com

Web: natejames.com

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