Hey there, this is Shawn James.

I’ve had way too many writers think they could sum me up & relay what I’m about from an hour long conversation so they could write my “bio” but I’ve had it. Screw that. I’ll tell it in my own words.

I was born & raised In Chicago, Illinois. I grew up on the south side of the city where I attended a gospel church. I was always around a lot of heartfelt soulful music & hardworking, real, down to earth people. Although I no longer abide by any religion, I value the times I had and how they shaped me to be what I am now.

I’ve moved around quite a bit living in all different parts of the US. While absorbing all sorts of different cultures from here & around the world, I’ve developed my own sound.

I started releasing my own music in 2012 and haven’t stopped since. I play a wide range of music from folk to blues, r&b, Gospel to rock, metal & alotta things in between. The main constant amongst all the genres would be that it’s all done with emotion, feeling, heart & a lotta soul. I mean what I say & deeply feel what I play.

I play covers of songs I dig sometimes and although some people may only know me because of those, I’m hardly just a cover artist.

If you come see me play live and expect just one style or aspect of what I do, you may be disappointed to learn that our shows are a roller coaster of emotions, musical styles, intensity & energy. I get bored easily & love to mix things up. Be ready & bring your ear plugs just in case..

I’ve always been the underdog so to speak since I’ve never had the backing of a large record label, big marketing firm or massive PR company & I truly like it that way. I feel as though I’ve earned what I have through hard work, determination, a good bit of luck & the great relationships with people I’ve made along the way. I’ve learned a lot of lessons the hard way being in this “music business industry” and that’s alright by me. I’ve seen that with your support (the listeners out there) I can make my wildest dreams come true.

If you want to listen to an artist that’s authentic, genuine & original then you’ve come to the right place.

I hope you enjoy the music & will join me on this journey that I’m so extremely grateful to be on. Thank you all so very much.

Love,

Shawn James

Songwriter, banjo-piano-uke-guitar player, nurturer, seamstress, wearer of aprons, bearer of band-aids, maker of levity, staunch adversary of bullshit…Multi-instrumentalist Rachael Davis is as renown for her expressive–and explosive–voice as she is for uniting the often desperate worlds of folk, blues, country, and pop. Davis grew up not only in a family of musicians, but in an extended village of remarkable musicians and songwriters who nurtured and mentored her from the time she was born. Beginning by jingling ankle bells in perfect time on her months old feet in the middle of old timey jams and song circles, to contributing newly minted songs to Music Sundays, Rachael has always found her own unique part in the music. Her clear tone and uncanny memory for just about every song she’s ever heard came early, and has served her well throughout her career. As a child Davis took to harmony, piano, and ukulele, and at 8, joined the family band Lake Effect, performing regularly at folk festivals throughouther home state of Michigan and around the U.S. By age 12, and continuing each year since, Rachael has brought the Wheatland Music Festival to its knees closing the Sunday morning gospel set with her stunning solo acapella version of Amazing Grace.“I was learning everything I could get my hands on and when I was 17, my father gave me his Bart Reiter banjo and taught me to play clawhammer style,” recalled Davis. “I like to joke that cursed me for life.” At 20, already a professional and deeply moved by traditional mountain music, blues, and ballads, Davis composed and recorded her debut album “Minor League Deities,” then with that, and a heart full of promise Rachael Davis headed to Boston the day after the 911 attack. There she began performing in city subways and the streets of Cambridge. Within months she had made her mark on the Boston music scene winning the prestigious Boston Music Award for Best New Singer/Songwriter.Davis often found sanctuary in the city’s basement level record stores as well as Boston’s premier acoustic music clubs where she made fans and friends of local stage veterans Vance Gilbert, Cheryl Wheeler, Josh Ritter, and indie rock’s parade float princess, Mary Lou Lord.“In a way, they’re all still with me today,” says Davis, “I was part of a real music community there. My story was just like theirs. We all knew we were on a path to find something and for that moment, we were all in the same place.”Because Davis has been swayed by so many different types of music, her style is difficult to file and will not languorously rest amid broader musical genres. “My slant on acoustic music can be explained by a mixed cassette tape that my father played during my early childhood while driving in our family’s Chevy Cavalier station wagon we nicknamed Iggy. On one side of the cassette was the soundtrack for the film The Big Chill. On the other was John Hartford’s “Areoplane”.” Today Davis describes her music as ‘Motown-Banjo’