Singer-songwriter James Richards will bring his talents to the Crooked Door Coffeehouse in downtown Marion Saturday at 8 p.m.
There is no cover charge for the concert, however donations are accepted.
Currently living in Asheville, Richards says he is excited to return to one of the prettiest rooms he has ever played in, and calls the Crooked Door a “downtown Marion gem with the vibe of a big hardwood gallery living room.”
Of all the talented musicians throughout western North Carolina that have dreams of performing for various audiences, Richards is one artist who has worked diligently to make his dreams a reality.
Although he would love to travel as a full-time performing artist, he said he loves his balanced lifestyle of family, school and work even more.
Richards even said that the highlight of his musical career was turning down a Nashville TV singing contest to make a date with his college girlfriend, who later became his wife
Along with that, Richards claims that the events he experiences in his everyday life are what gives him the inspiration for the songs he writes. From a solitary walk in the mountains or city, to current events, to everyday interaction with the people he loves and admires, Richards aspires to follow and then shatter the old “write what you know” adage.
He said the world has “plenty of material to mine for inspiration.”
Richards first became interested in music as a small boy, and even remembers making up songs and stories when he was still young enough to play with a Fisher Price tape recorder. Although he spent his childhood feeding cattle on a farm in Paris, KY and traveled around the east coast as a teenager, he still made plenty of time for music over the years.
As a child he remembers his parents playing music in every room of the house and learning how to play violin and piano at a very young age. As he got older he found joy in singing in church choir and glee clubs. Richards also studied opera for a while and later “discovered the guitar as an antidote for loneliness at a school in the frozen Pennsylvania countryside.”
Over the past decade, Richards has released two albums including “Red Kelley-Apparitions” in 2001 and “The Asheville Session EP” in 2005. He has also worked with artisst such as Peggy Seeger, Stacy Earle David Lamotte, Ellis Paul, and Mark Stuart.
At the moment, Richards saves his “acousticfunkgrass” sound for campfire sing-a-longs, places of worship, house parties and benefits.
He especially enjoys playing and leading music in places of worship.
“It is extremely satisfying, attempting to express complicated questions of faith and life through music,” he said.
However, he is working with some friends to market his songs for television, video games and films. Along with that, when he finishes working on the Hello Farewell Tour in May he has plans to spend some time in Baltimore and New York to work on his new album, “Hearts and Minds.”
James Richards’s concert will be played on 88.7 WNCW’s Local Color on Sunday and he can also be found at www.reverbnation.com/jamesrichards.
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