James Sayer, originally from the West Midlands in the UK hails from a hugely musical family where he grew up playing Rhythm & Blues music, firstly on piano then adding saxophone, guitar and vocals into his skill set. Developing a fascination and love of music at a very young age, he spent his hours learning and digesting music from artists such as Jerry Lee Lewis, Elton John and Van Morrison.
Although he studied classical piano, it was more cross over song drive pop that really appealed to James. He went on to study Jazz on saxophone at one of the UKs leading music Colleges before moving on to study Contemporary piano, scoring several accalades along his way. Relocating to London in order to widen his opportunities, James soon began writing music as well as playing. Shortly after his arrival, James met American producer Alan Glass and they began working on James’ debut demo material together.
Through Alan guitarist and songwriting partner of Michael McDonald, Bernie Chiaravalle also got involved in James’ music, playing many of the guitar parts on his demos. Lisa Grahame, ( Jools Holland’s Saxophone player) recorded parts as well on some of James tracks & both became genuine advocates for his music & talent.
‘Hearing James Sayer's music gives me faith that there are true singer/songwriter/musicians keeping the tradition of great songwriting and performing alive. I really love his music and I'm honored to be asked to play on his recordings. We're going to be hearing a lot from this great artist!’ - Bernie Chiaravalle
The next significant step for James was when his demo recordings found their way to five time Grammy winner and former member of The Doobie Brothers, Michael McDonald. Mcdonald described James music as ‘VERY INSPIRING’ commenting that he had been ‘ENJOYING LISTENING TO THEM IMMENSLEY’. McDonald reached out to James directly inviting him to fly out to New York where he met with both Micheal and his band in person. During this trip James also played his first ever solo performance in the city.
Whilst developing his own music, James continued to be a hugely in demand musician, spreading his wings on a month long US tour with the Ruen Brothers. During this time they supported George Ezra, played the infamous Coachella festival, Austin City limits and BBC radio 1s big weekend. They also undertook a live recording session with legendary producer Rick Rubin. James describes this as ‘one of the highlights of my career and a day I will never, ever forget’. The session took place at the legendary Shangri La Studios, Malibu where the likes of Mick Jagger, Ed Sheeran and Adele have recorded their hit albums. Once back from touring, James finished his debut track ‘Taking Back My Love’ & uploaded it to the BBC Introducing portal. The track was immediately picked up and made ‘Track of the Week’ by the taste making network James was invited into the studio to play live on air with his band on the BBC Introducing show . Following this James music received further national mainstream BBC Radio 2 airplay as well as support from BBC Radio 6 and legendary radio presenter Tom Robinson who commented - ‘When you hear a track like that, likely inspired by early Van Morrison. my tip to fellow Van fans is to save £100 on the ticket price and go and see James Sayer instead’.....’ I personally haven’t witnessed Van Morrison deliver anything close to that kind of energy and punch on stage in the last thirty years!’ In other parts of the world, James’ debut recording ‘Taking Back My Love’ was passed onto a Dutch DJ of legendary station ‘Radio Veronica’. James was again invited to play live at the station. This was followed by national playlisting on Dutch Radio 2 and Sublime FM.
James’ first ever track released had achieved significant airplay across two major territories without any backing or promotional help at all, a brilliant example of true organic growth through the route of simply great music... in other words what he had always hoped for.
Since mid 2018 James has been working hard on his debut album alongside Matthew Lawrence, recording tracks in both London and Nashville, USA. Once again invited by Michael McDonald to use his studio AND his band to record his songs, the quality and integrity James always hoped to achieve on his records has become a reality.
As James gets ready to unleash his debut album on the world, he continues to play live all over, working magic on every stage in exactly the way he was born to & has been doing since he was first allowed to step behind a piano. In 2019 James performed on the main stage of The Great British Rhythm & Blues Festival, Cornbury Festival, Birmingham Jazz Festival and performed two sell out London shows of his own. Release of his first album, the fantastic result of his exciting musical journey so far, is scheduled for 2020 with more details soon to be announced