Shawn James (musician)

Shawn James (born September 23, 1986) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. He performs both solo and with his backing band, The Shapeshifters.

Shawn James
Born (1986-09-23) September 23, 1986
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Genres
Occupation(s)
  • Singer
  • songwriter
  • musician
Instruments
  • Guitar
  • vocals
  • piano
  • drums
Years active2012–present
Labels
  • Parts + Labor
  • Raleigh Music Group
Associated actsThe Shapeshifters
Websiteshawnjamesmusic.com

Early life

James was born in Chicago on September 23, 1986,[1] raised by a Greek immigrant [2] and grew up on Chicago's South Side.[3] As a child, he attended a local Pentecostal church, where he sang in the choir. He also took opera, orchestra and singing lessons in high school.[4]

Career

James started his career working as a sound engineer at music studios in Nashville, Tennessee. In 2012, he moved to Fayetteville, Arkansas, to pursue his own career as a musician. In the beginning, he busked around downtown Fayetteville. From there, he started playing in local venues and recording his own songs in a bedroom studio.[4] Later in 2012, he released his first studio album, Shadows. In 2013, he began working with his backing band, The Shapeshifters.[3] He has since released three more solo albums, a live album, and five albums with The Shapeshifters.[5] He also maintains his own record company, Shawn James Music.[3]

James achieved some notability in October 2015 when his cover of A. A. Bondy's "American Hearts", filmed in a wolf sanctuary, went viral after being posted on Reddit.[6] In December 2016, he had his biggest breakthrough when his 2012 song "Through the Valley" was covered by the character of Ellie in the reveal trailer for the 2020 video game The Last of Us Part II.[7][8] This led to the song being streamed over 3 million times on Spotify, topping the Spotify viral chart in the UK.[9][10] On June 5, 2020, he released a re-recorded version of the song in the run-up to the game's release on June 19.[11]

James' music has also been featured on Discovery Channel's reality show Yukon Men,[12] the CBS legal drama series Reckless,[13] and the Showtime comedy-drama series Shameless.[14] He currently has a publishing deal with Raleigh Music Group,[15] and signed to Parts + Labor Records in 2018.[16]

Discography

Solo
  • Shadows (2012)
  • Deliverance (2014)
  • On the Shoulders of Giants (2016)
  • The Dark & The Light (2019)
  • The Guardian Collection (2020)

The Shapeshifters
  • The Wolf (2013)
  • The Bear (2013)
  • The Hawk (2014)
  • The Covers (2014)
  • The Gospel According to Shawn James & The Shapeshifters (2015)

References
  1. "Shawn James solo bio". Retrieved June 7, 2018.
  2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLrPsVq795c
  3. https://shawnjamesmusic.com/#about-section
  4. Hall, Mary (April 12, 2017). "Passionate, raw sound brings Bourbonnais musician national recognition". The Daily Journal. Retrieved June 7, 2018.
  5. "Shawn James". AllMusic. Retrieved June 7, 2018.
  6. Bartholomew, Dustin (October 28, 2015). "Video of local musician Shawn James singing in a wolf sanctuary goes viral". Fayetteville Flyer. Retrieved June 7, 2018.
  7. Imms, Jason (December 7, 2016). "The Last of Us Part 2 Trailer Track Reaches No. 1 on UK Spotify Viral 50 Chart". GameSpot. Retrieved July 26, 2018.
  8. Kain, Erik. "What 'The Last of Us 2' Reveal Trailer Tells Us About Naughty Dog's New Game". Forbes. Retrieved July 26, 2018.
  9. James, Shawn [@ShawnJamesMusic] (December 7, 2016). "Through the Valley is #1 on the viral Spotify U.K. charts!!!! Thank you all so much! t.co/6O9bx7MlMx" (Tweet). Retrieved February 5, 2021 – via Twitter.
  10. "Spotify's Top 10 most viral tracks". Fox News Business. December 20, 2016. Retrieved June 7, 2018.
  11. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXcKSLijghs
  12. "Shawn James". IMDb. Retrieved July 26, 2018.
  13. "Music by Shawn James". Tunefind. Retrieved July 26, 2018.
  14. "Shameless" Love Songs (In the Key of Gallagher) (TV Episode 2015), retrieved July 26, 2018
  15. "Raleigh Music – Shawn James". raleighmusicgroup.com. Retrieved June 7, 2018.
  16. "Singer/Songwriter Shawn James Signs to Parts + Labor Records". Parts + Labor Records. Retrieved March 26, 2019.
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