A hint of country, boiling over with blues and smothered in soul.
That recipe could be a good way to describe a dish that is the music of Casey James.
Now, the artist is channeling that flavor into his first-ever acoustic album, “Me and My Guitar.”
And he’s set to release it right here in East Tennessee.
“It’s literally me singing and one guitar playing,” Casey James said during a one-on-one interview. “What I’ve heard from three different people who have called me is they’ve said, ‘Man, I feel like you are in the room with me.’”
The singer-songwriter and former “American Idol” finalist will release the new album during an intimate live performance at the Yacht Club at Tellico Village on Friday, April 24.
James said the new sound is a break from all of his previous work thus far in his career.
“In terms of it being different, I would say it is different really in every way. It’s different in the fact that it doesn’t have a band,” James said. “I did it mostly live. In other words, I didn’t cheat, I didn’t tune the vocals, I didn’t move anything.”
And James said the differences are not just with the recording but with the material.
“It’s kind of story songs and love songs, and it’s really meant to connect to the delivery of it, which is not in-your-face, pump-you-up stuff. It’s more relaxed. You can put the record on and have a glass of wine and feel good about it.”
For James, it has been a long road between the time he first strummed across the strings of a guitar and this latest album. The Texas native picked it up for the first time when he was about 14 years old.
“I was playing shows when I was like 16,” James said. “It was kind of quick. I played a lot. Just one thing led to another, and before I knew it my buddies were offering me money to play at parties.”
Those parties and small gigs increased over the years, and in 2010, James was ready to put his musical abilities to the test by trying out for *American Idol*. After that tryout, he was packing his bags and heading to Hollywood. He said that year was especially popular for the television singing competition.
“What I gather from people who watched the show is it was kind of the last hooray for the original because it was the last time Simon Cowell was a part of it. It was well watched. It was well received.”
James took third place on the show, and it wasn’t long before he had a record deal.
“I was very aware of the fact that with every passing moment, I was giving myself more opportunities to succeed in my life. The closer I got to the end was like, ‘How am I here with the talent that has passed through this thing?’” James said. “It doesn’t really make sense to me until I think about the fact that it’s not just talent. It’s how you make people feel, your heart, a lot of things that I feel confident about.”
And that confidence has been instrumental for his latest album, “Me and My Guitar.”
“I didn’t do this for years because there’s no place to hide when it’s you and a guitar,” James said. “You make a mistake vocally, it’s heard. You make a mistake on a guitar, it’s heard. You get a whole band, you can bury it in the mix.”
James said recording the new album has been a long time in the making.
“I feel like with the amount of AI that’s going on, I think human beings want to be connected to human beings,” he said. “In terms of it being different, setting itself apart from all my other body of work, it’s different probably on every level.”
In addition to releasing his album, the event Friday will also raise money to benefit the Community Coalition Against Human Trafficking and support survivors. It’s a cause that is near and dear to James’ heart.
“You don’t recognize and you don’t realize that when people talk about human trafficking, it’s not like (the movie) “Taken,” James said. “It’s people you might see at the grocery store. It was really shocking to me to learn more about it.”
Doors are set to open at the Yacht Club at Tellico Village at 5:30 p.m. Friday, April 24. There is a VIP event at 6 p.m., a silent auction at 6:15 p.m., and then James takes the stage at 7:30 p.m. To purchase tickets to the concert, visit [www.ourjam.us](http://www.ourjam.us).
