James Apollo

November 4, 2011

We met up in Highland Park at the Cave Country House on a Friday evening. It was actually the day before they had to move out, so almost everything was packed up except for a few stray boxes and musical instruments (I was told that normally it was a full-fledged studio, yet to be determined where its future home would be). It was actually raining that day, but thankfully there was a bit of a break to drudge in all the recording gear (all the way down a rather steep, muddy and not-so-well lit setback to a hidden gem of a back apartment, where they’d set up a rather sparse drum kit and rhodes for the rhythm section).

I was pleasantly surprised to find Leslie (of said & the Badgers and numerous vocal appearances on local favorites, which are needless to say always amazing). James and her apparently didn’t even know each other prior to that day, and had actually been introduced for this recording by James’ manager, Warren (see previous post), who thought she’d be a great pairing vocally. Well, I’d say he pretty much hit the nail on the head with that one. Two strong vocal personalities like these don’t always mesh well, but when they do it’s really something special. And it certainly doesn’t hurt when the songwriting is this strong either. James has a genuine knack for catchy, sweeping melodies and a clever lyrical deftness, and though they may tend towards the grandiose in structure, there’s always this balance of intimacy and openness to the songs.

Find more @ http://www.jamesapollo.com/

Camera & Sound by Elliot Glass.
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