Songs of Anthony St. James is out today on Crotalus Records (US) and Aldora-Britain Records (UK)!
“An exceptional storyteller… Songs of Anthony St. James possesses tremendous detail and shows off Anthony St. James’ uncanny ability to capture the very zeitgeist.” (Beach Sloth)
“Like a modern troubadour playing a classic guitar, Anthony St. James injects warm Americana with elements of blues, country, and even jazz for a solid debut of earnest, world-weary folk tales.” (Evolution of Folk)
“A great insight into real American life, like visiting houses across the country. If a European wanted to know what America is actually like, instead of what they see on TV, I’d play them Songs of Anthony St. James.” (Hidden Sound)
Many thanks to these radio stations & podcasts for adding the singles “Leaving on the Train” and “Down on the Avenue” to their rotations: NPR (WPSU) // Valley FM 89.5 // VYPA Radio // Banks Radio Australia // Black on Track // Mark Skin Radio // Next Up with Tommy Clark // Third Class Ticket Radio Show // Brutha Voodoo’s Playlist // Ayrshire Online Radio // Pulse Community Radio // Cactus Rock Radio // CHR Conquest Community Radio // Christian’s Cosmic Corner // Wolfman Rocks Radio // SIX6 Selectors // The View From Nowhere (WAKT 106.1 FM) // Harmony Ridge (KVMR Radio) // The Waking Hours (WMNF) // Hardly Strictly Radio (WNPG) // Folk Odyssey // American Routes // Serendipity Radio // From the Joshua Tree Inn (WEFT) // Common Threads (WAER) // WOJB Folkways // Blues & Roots Radio
Crotalus Records Press Release:
For his debut album, Pennsylvania-via-Baltimore singer/songwriter Anthony St. James constructed a studio space in his dim, uncomfortable basement and brought only the essentials: string lights, bourbon, some beat-up guitars and, perhaps most important, a declined invitation to his 20 year high school reunion.
“Adolescence, early 20s… I think those years are tough even under the best of circumstances. I wanted to tell some honest stories about my friends and the company I kept in those days, who lived them under some of the worst circumstances.”
With a title that nods to Leonard Cohen and working-class poetry celebrating the lonely, desperate, and the down-but-not-quite-out, Songs of Anthony St. James is the sound of a sympathetic troubadour serenading lost souls in a dark bar with their own ghost stories.
These are hard luck tales, but there are glimmers of hope in the heartbreak, and even the bleakest moments are uplifted by being played in major keys. You’ll hear hints of Springsteen’s Americana, early Tom Waits and a Workers Playtime Billy Bragg, but the sounds & stories on Songs of Anthony St. James are all his own.
