When he started to record his previous album, for New West Records, he had more of a high-lonesome sound. He calls it an evolution because he didn’t always sing this way. “I’m evolving into a true-blue country singer, in tune with the spirit of my idols but forging my own personal path,” James explains. And boy, does he nail it, with a well-modulated baritone that occasionally dips toward bass territory or glides into tenor range - it’s a voice born to be accompanied by a crying pedal steel or wailing fiddle. He’s building on the legacy left by those who helped create the genre, while perhaps reconnecting listeners with the vibe country had before it went pop (and beyond). “Jason James may have a long way to go to forge a similar legacy to the greats of the Golden Era of country music,” noted Trigger in, “but he doesn’t have to travel far at all to illustrate the same talent those legends did in putting sound behind the emotions of heartache and joy that the best of country music captures.” But even though compared him to Sturgill Simpson and praised his first album’s “classy, decidedly retro feel,” James is hardly trying to live in the past. 4, 2019 via his own Melodyville Records (Smith Music), James follows his self-titled 2015 debut with ten original odes that recall the work of his influences without resorting to mimicry. On Seems Like Tears Ago, released worldwide Oct. It’s his sound: the pure, honest voice of a singer who rediscovered his soul when he reawakened his early love of well-crooned waltzes and hook-filled honky-tonkers. But it’s not his looks or style that provide the most convincing evidence of his kinship with other giants of the genre.

His choice of attire - embroidered suits or pearl-snap shirts and sharply creased slacks - offers a visual tribute to his musical heroes and the traditions they established. TEXAS CITY, Texas - When Jason James walks onstage, he declares his love of classic country before he even sings a note.

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