James and the Giant

Band biography, May 2009

James and the Giant have been busy climbing up the ladder of the local music scene in Cheshire and Staffordshire since they formed in late 2008.

The band plays a unique mixture of folk, rock and pop music, channelling the likes of REM, Tom Waits, David Gray and Neil Young into their original music. Whilst much of their material was written by Crewe based singer-songwriter Dayve Dean, they also have been known to throw in a few re-imagined and re-worked covers.

After spending the first few months of the bands life sharing instrument duties and experimenting with glockenspiels and mandolins, the group have now settled on the important matter of who plays what. Dean combines singing duties with cranking out smooth, driving bass lines, while effervescent radio presenter and music producer Dan Logan is the band's drummer. Lead and rhythm guitar duties are shared by Carl Hill and Steve Welch.

The band have been emerging on the local scene for nearly six months, becoming regular performers at one of the North West’s premier unsigned music venues, The Box in Crewe. They also regularly perform in both Alsager and Stoke and have headlined the Freak & Roll night at DeBees Music Bar in Winsford.

More excitement is to come over the summer months as the band get on the road to take in gigs all over the country. They have been confirmed onto the bill of the Lynton and Lynmouth Music Festival (LLAMA), where they will be joined by artists of the calibre of Badly Drawn Boy and David Holmes. The three day festival takes place in Devon in June 2009 and comes in the midst of a busy summer schedule that will see the band play dates in Manchester, Dudley, Edinburgh and Staffordshire.

Most of the songs played by James and the Giant come from singer Dayve’s second album Octagon, recorded in 2008 and produced by Nigel Stonier, who has previously collaborated with the likes of Fairport Convention, Lindisfarne and Sandi Thom. Featuring backing vocals from award winning singer/songwriter Thea Gilmore and recorded mainly in Liverpool at The Loft, Octagon is a collection of intelligently crafted pop songs with killer hooks and insightful lyrics.

The album was launched in 2008 at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, with Dayve playing solo for three weeks solid in Scotland’s capital city. He will be heading back to the scene of the crime - this time with the whole band - to play for three nights at the Free Fringe festival in August 2009.

Download of the week podcast

During 2009 a free song will be offered for download which will be changing every week (or as close as possible!). These will include a variety of MP3 and video files including live performances, alternative mixes, studio recordings and demos. Updates will be displayed at dayve.co.uk and announced in the blog and on Twitter and Brightkite. You can also subscribe to the podcast in iTunes.

Discography

Octagon

Follow Ordinary I Could Be Happy With You Starting Line Lizard Skin Tell You I Don't Want To Be That Man Anymore Like Jimmy Did (live at The Loft) Waters Another Christmas Ride

Another Christmas EP

Another Christmas Christmas Ghost River

Still Life

Lie To Yourself If You Don't Trust Me Innocent Like Jimmy Did The Beginning of the War Still Life End of the Day Heaven Christmas Ghost The Same Road Out of my Hands Dream