Artemus James

Artemus James is the writing/recording pseudonym of Andrew Crawford. He took the first names of his maternal and paternal grandfathers, respectively. James began writing songs in late 2006 while living in Los Angeles. Upon relocating to east Tennessee late in the winter of 2008 he began recording songs in a friends home studio in Knoxville, Tennessee. In January 2009, James met Annabelle LaFoy, a piano player from Maryville, Tennessee, and in the early part of that year they formed the duo Cain & Annabelle. They combined their songwriting efforts in the Ep, The Lake Takes, and toured extensively in the summer and fall of 2009. In 2010, James decided to turn his focus onto forming a full band with LaFoy on board.[1] James spent much of 2010 and 2011 writing and arranging the material for what would be their debut works as Year of the Bear. February 1 of 2012, Year of the Bear began recording their debut studio Ep, Valley Young, and Lp, Upright In The Sunlight, with producer Bryce Goggin (Phish, Pavement, Akron/Family, The Lemonheads) at Trout Recording in Brooklyn, NY. Among the cast of musicians who played on the Ep and album are Parker Kindred (Jeff Buckley, Antony and the Johnsons, Joan as Police Woman) on drums, Royston Langdon (Spacehog) on bass and Richard Steel (Spacehog) on lead guitar.

James was born in Knoxville, Tennessee and was raised in Cumberland Gap, Tennessee and Salisbury, North Carolina.[2] He is known for his nomadic tendencies and has often lived out of his touring van.

• Year of the Bear website