Jeff Buckley, Patsy Cline, Mahalia Jackson, Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan, Prince, Joni Mitchell, Lucinda Williams, Alicia Keys, Gillian Welch, David Rawlings, Chris Koza, Sade, Ani DiFranco, Ben Harper, Bon Iver, Erykah Badu, Ray LaMontagne, Andrew Bird, Fiona Apple, PJ Harvey, Ryan Adams, Feist, Iron and Wine, Otis Redding, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, The BOSS.
“The true heart and soul of this rare talent is her live performance. When JoAnna James closes her eyes and begins to sing, gravity suddenly leaves the room. If you get the chance to see her perform, drop everything and go.”
-City Pages (April 2007)
“JoAnna James’ voice is immediately evocative, the sort of singularly expressive vehicle born to make hairs stand on end.”
-Pulse of the Twin Cities (April 2007)
“JoAnna James’ ‘Disappear’ might be the most heart-shattering, gorgeous, and we’re-all alone-in-this-world-together song of the year...”
-Pinch! Twin Cities Metroblog (April 2007)
“St Paul singer/songwriter JoAnna James takes a staggering leap forward with her seductive new EP, ‘Back of My Mind’, which should do wonders in further establishing James as one of the Cities’ most promising performers.”
-Pioneer Press (May 2007)
“Goose-bump good.”
-City Pages (April 2007)
FAQs:
WHAT'S YOUR NAME? JoAnna James
WHY DO YOU CAPITALIZE THE 'A' IN YOUR NAME? Because when I was in 3rd grade, an ex-nun told me I would go to hell if I didn’t.
WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST INSTRUMENT? When I was in 2nd grade, my Grandpa Chuck got me a violin. He bought it off a real nun for 100 bucks.
WHAT INSTRUMENTS DO YOU PLAY? Guitar, violin, harmonica, accordion, tambourine and footstomps.
WHO HAVE YOU OPENED FOR? Jamie Cullum, Mason Jennings, Ken Stringfellow (REM, The Posies and Big Star), The Honeydogs, Missy Higgins, Cloud Cult, Slim Dunlap, Steve Poltz, Jonny Lang, Joseph Arthur, A Girl Called Eddy, Mary Lou Lord.
WHO HAVE YOU COLLABORATED WITH AND/OR RECORDED WITH? Dan Wilson (Semisonic, Trip Shakespeare), Jessy Greene (Foo Fighters), Atmosphere, Chris Koza, Martin Devaney, The Pines, Haley Bonar, John Munson (Semisonic, Trip Shakespeare), Marc Perlman (Jayhawks), Tina Schlieske (Tina and the B-Sides), Molly Maher, The Honeydogs, Dessa (Doomtree), Desdamona, Dan Israel, Jeremy Messersmith, Teneia Sanders, Scourge of the Sea, Charlie Parr, The New Standards
WHAT STATES HAVE YOU TOURED THROUGH? Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Iowa, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Vermont, North Dakota, Montana, Colorado, Oregon, Texas, California and New York.
WHY DID YOU MOVE TO LOS ANGELES? To increase my chances of meeting George Clooney.
HOW MANY SHOWS HAVE YOU AVERAGED PER YEAR? Since 2005, about 130+ per year
HOW MANY CDs DO YOU HAVE? 3 total: Self-Titled LP (2004), Desire LP (2005), Back of my Mind EP (2007)
IF I WANTED TO SHOW MY SUPPORT FOR INDEPENDENT ARTISTS BY BUYING ONE OF YOUR CDs INSTEAD OF SWIPING SONGS OFF THE INTERNET, WHICH ONE WOULD YOU RECOMMEND? Back of my Mind
WHERE CAN I FIND YOUR CDs? www.cdbaby.com, iTunes, Cheapo, Electric Fetus, Eclipse Records
WHO PRODUCED 'BACK OF MY MIND' AND WHERE DID YOU RECORD IT? I recorded it at Shangri-la Productions in Lexington, KY with producer Duane Lundy
WHO DID THE ARTWORK FOR THE EP? Nikki Ruddy, amazing visual artist and photographer
WHAT IS YOUR MOST EMBARRASSING MOMENT ON STAGE? Hmmm, while there are many, I’d have to say the worst was during a rehearsal for last year’s New Standards show at the Fitzgerald Theater. I told Mike Doughty he was ‘one bad rapper’ after he spit a verse Vanilla-Ice style on ‘Under Pressure’…but I meant it as in ‘bad ass’ as in ‘so freakin great’…However, my attempt at using street slang backfired and everyone on stage fell silent; you know, the ol’ record scratch kind of silence. Luckily I managed to get my foot out of my mouth enough to explain later to Mr. Doughty that I was trying to give him a compliment, and then he gave me a big hug :) Yay.
WHAT'S THE MOST KICK-ASS YouTube VIDEO YOU'VE EVER SEEN? Sister Rosetta Tharpe:
WHEN I SEARCH 'JOANNA JAMES' ON YouTube, I ALWAYS SEEM TO FIND A STRIPTEASE VIDEO. IS THAT YOU? No, it is a drag queen…but man, I wish I had legs like that!
We really appreciate the add, and we hope that you are enjoying our songs. If you listen to Iron & Wine and Bon Iver, you might also like the mellow indie-folk of Samuel’s other band called “Of The Isles” [myspace. com/oftheisles]. Thanks again, best of luck with your music, and have a lovely summer.
Hi JoJa! Yo, I didn't even get a chance to say hey to ya at 1st Ave.....so hey! I hope you're enjoying CA! We all miss us some JoAnna James here in Mpls.
hey JoAnna, it's Roose! Just thought I'd stop by and let you know that we haven't forgotten about you! :) let me know if you're going to be in our neck of the woods anytime this summer. hope this finds you well!
thank you for finding me here joanna and for the kind words~ your music and voice are captivating! please stay in touch... would love to grow a show together sometime.
Hope all is well out there! I'm glad you were able to make a trip home! Good luck with everything. And if you ever need a few extra people to show up at a show....I have tons o family there and they are all music lovers. They would dig you. So, keep me posted and I'll keep them posted. -Alison
good to see you the other day! the show gave me goose pimples and it only seems to happen when you and chris are on the stage together. take care and you look amazing by the way. the cali sun must be treating you nice... remember sunblock!
so--last saturday--you were dawdling backstage after the show; thus i didn't get to shake your (i imagine very soft and delicate) hand and congratulate you in person on an amazing show. i wish you could know what it's like to watch you when you're onstage.
chris always puts on a good show, but when you're not there, i miss it. especially if he plays midnight rose and there's no violin....*sigh*...
thanks for putting your heart and soul and twinkling, wild eye into it.
You're wonderful. I really want to see you and Missy sing together. Really really I do. I'm excited for you to come back to MN because apparently I'm really slow at noticing things and I didnt catch a show before you left. And, like I said, you're wonderful!! :)
damn girl! Let's get us some cornbread and honey butta! It was absolutely amazing playing with you last night! I still have some residual goosebumpies goin on. Safe travels back to the LALA land. Until next time my dear.
It was great to run into you this weekend. I hope you enjoyed your time in MN. I also wanted to let you know that I went into work today and my co-worker was talking about the Chris Koza show this weekend and how there was this amazingly talented girl named JoAnna James playing with him and I got to say "Hey, I know her!" and agreed with him that you are amazing!
hey there! hope to catch you when you're in minneapolis. we could use you at the 318 on the 8th from 7:30am to 5pm - no problem, right? hahaha ...i know you miss it.
how is california? hope all is going great. I'm sure it can't be that bad with the sun and what not. might be coming out that way later on in the summer, so I hope you're playing shows that I can come see...if I get there.
