Way Beyond the Maze

Drew James

In cart Not available Out of stock

A songwriting cross between Tom Waits and John Prine -- as sung by Gordon Lightfoot accompanied by unplugged instruments.

Award winning songwriter Drew James, a San Francisco native, began writing and performing his own songs in 1996. He performs his solo act all over the west coast, primarily in the bay area, including the Bread and Roses concert

A songwriting cross between Tom Waits and John Prine -- as sung by Gordon Lightfoot accompanied by unplugged instruments.

Award winning songwriter Drew James, a San Francisco native, began writing and performing his own songs in 1996. He performs his solo act all over the west coast, primarily in the bay area, including the Bread and Roses concert series.

Drew’s songs have received airplay in the U.S. and Europe. His 2007 acoustic CD release "Way Beyond the Maze" is an intimate set of songs, including the Great American Song Contest award winner "You Can Cry to Me" and the 15th Billboard World Song Contest award winner “Thicker than Blood.” This CD is very representative of Drew's acclaimed solo acoustic performances.

In 2006 he released “The Last Second Chance,” recorded at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley backed by outstanding musicians. The new CD, produced by Bruce Kaphan, was submitted for Grammy consideration. It was also featured at the Toofy Film Festival in Boulder, Colorado.

His first solo recording “As Far As I Know” features 14 of Drew’s original songs. He has also appeared on Shuteye Records’ “United State of Americana” compilation CD. That CD made it to #53 on the Americana Music Association charts in 2005.

“On his The Last Second Chance CD (2006), Drew James has created his own music realm, attractive and hospitable to any Real Music lover, no matter his or her genre preferences. Strictly speaking, the album is recorded in a folk-rock key, but there's so much True Blue feeling in every track that they sound "more Blues" to me than many of the "canonized" 12-bar standards. The arrangements and performance are tasteful and natural, and the production is simply perfect (a George Martin level work done by guitarist Bruce Kaphan). To those yet deciding whether to buy or not this CD, I'd say it'd be one of their best investments, a "long term" one - the more you play this record, the better it sounds. Drew James' music world is a place to stay - "you can check out any time you like, but you can never leave".” - Paul Bondarovski, Midnight Special Blues Radio

“As Far As I Know subscribes to traditional roots songwriting, but bends the rules slightly by subverting traditional sounds with intimate singer/songwriter blues tones” – Ryan Hoffer, Shuteye Records A&R

Read more…