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<\/a>\u201cFor people who are born to play, who\u2019ve been playing for their whole lives, and then you take two years away like that, It\u2019s hard,\u201d he admits. \u201cYou live to play in front of people.\u201d<\/p>\n
James recorded his latest record Open Road<\/em> over the pandemic with his co-producer in London, England. They did it all over computers, which James says was a very different process.<\/p>\n \u201cMaking a record wasn\u2019t hard except for the fact that we weren\u2019t together so we weren\u2019t spending the time together between work to discuss what we could be doing,\u201d says James. \u201cIt was disjointed and it took a lot longer than usual, and it\u2019s lonely.\u201d<\/p>\n Once upon a time, James hit number four on American rock charts with \u201cJust Came Back\u201d and he played Letterman and Conan O\u2019Brien but he says that, for a number of reasons, he lost that audience at some point.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s just a lot of country down there, and there are a lot of people going for the brass ring,\u201d says James. \u201cAnd, honestly, there’s no incentive for a Canadian company to try to break you in south of the border because they\u2019re going to lose money before they make money. There is no way around it, and if you\u2019re not prepared to do that it\u2019s not going to work. It\u2019s that simple.\u201d<\/p>\n James says that it was his 2016 release Blue Highways<\/em> that got him back on track in America.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s strange after all these years,\u201d says James. \u201cMy job now is to kind of go back many years and go down there and not be a household name. I have to work a lot harder. It\u2019s opened up a new path for me to continue to work but I have to kind of prove myself in a new place and it\u2019s really fuelling the passion, you know.\u201d<\/p>\n After some time away James says that he’s been waiting far too long to do a real tour of Canada. He can\u2019t remember for sure but James says he has played the Royal Theatre 10 or 12 times over the years and he can\u2019t wait to get back.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve learned to play appropriate to the room,\u201d says James. \u201cWhen I was in my 20s we\u2019d come out swinging and just be super loud. We really try to keep an eye on sonics and make sure it sounds the way it should. It\u2019s usually an energetic show. I put a lot into it. That\u2019s all I\u2019ve ever known how to do, so I\u2019ll keep doing it.\u201d<\/p>\n