James is the most recent member of the most recent permutation of the Real Gone Daddies. He started playing guitar upon realizing that a toy ukelele with one broken string wasn't going to do it for him. The decision was also confirmed by the fact that one of his friends was always on his Sears drum kit. One summer of gigging top 40 tunes convinced him to concentrate on writing original songs, many of which are largely influenced by 70's progressive rock. Learning intervals from a vacuum cleaner and playing in church choirs finally gave him the guts to sing in front of others. (..still in search of that elusive Bb hoover.)