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A San Diego native, Vanja has been playing solo to San Diego audiences since 2002, and has been a regular on San Diego radio stations since 2005.

Being homeschooled after grade 3 and starting college early gave her a different set of musical experiences - she says now (2008) that, "I feel lucky to finally be doing something that I've wanted to do for a long time. And I feel even more fortunate that I have the education to back it up - years of patience and taking good advice finally coming together."

Graduating with a degree in theatre from UCSD in at age 19, she credits most of her musical shaping to her college teachers. Age 16 landed her in classical guitar classes at her local community college as well as gospel choir classes. By her senior year, voice teacher Linda Vickerman took Vanja under her wing and taught her how to sing the blues. It was through Linda that she met guitar teacher David Beldock. The two have been cowriting bluesy songs ever since. David and Vanja's guitar arrangements have become a trademark part of Vanjas unique playing style.

Self-producing her record "the old fashioned way", lead Vanja to pull from a cast of 20 (yes 20, and still growing!) of her closest friends/colleagues to play on each of the songs.

This all-star lineup of musicians feature players who have toured/played/recorded with artists such as Norah Jones, Tom Waits, Natalie Cole, Elvis Costello, Diana Krall, Fenix TX, Blink 182, Allison Kraus, Steve Poltz, and The Classified, The Black Keys, and Bright Eyes.

After five drummers, three bassists, four guitar players, one amp expert, two backup singers, and a few multi-instrumentalists worked their magic (some sending their music files long distance via email) , the result is an album of 13 well crafted, well rounded songs that earns the albums title, "Vanja James Music." It is Vanja's 1st full studio album is complete and available for download, finally giving audiences "the hits, plus a few new ones!" in their "full band glory."

A healthy dose of touring and creative marketing is on Vanja's list of things to do upon the album's completion. "I can't wait to see where it goes. It's been a long time coming."

For details on tour history, press releases, and upcoming shows, please see Vanja’s website:

VanjaJames.com