When a song is stripped down, you can really see what the song is on it’s own with just a voice and instrument. This is where The Guardian Collection came from. I planned a whole year of touring before the pandemic hit and due to it, I re-recorded some songs and covers to keep the story going and give people something. It was a really big opportunity for me and a pivotal moment for me. The other half of The Guardian Collection consists of covers, a re-recorded version of a song called “Through The Valley”, and a new song called “The Guardian” for a Sony PlayStation game called The Last Of Us Part Two. With The Guardian Collection, we stripped down around half of the songs from The Dark & The Light that acoustically shone on their own.
The songs shone bright in the produced layered way that we made them but the stripped-down core wasn’t represented. I wrote those songs with just an acoustic guitar and my voice. It’s a beautifully layered and filled out record and I absolutely love it. It was my first record with Parts and Labor Records with producer Jimmy Messer. “In 2019, I put out an album called The Dark & The Light. “I learned a lot from those two about intense performances that give chills, style and expression of one’s own unique voice and traits, and using your vocal power and softness to accentuate a song building powerful peaks and peaceful valleys in music.”Īnd you now have a new album out, The Guardian Collection, what can you tell us about it?
What do you take from those artists into your own music? You’ve been inspired by artists like Tom Waits and Otis Redding. I’m continuing the cycle in a way.” Artwork for ‘The Guardian Collection’ by Shawn James
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Ultimately, I want to inspire people, help others release emotions or possibly put feelings into words and music that helps someone who didn’t know how to express it, and hopefully make a positive difference in people’s lives like others music has done for me many times in the past. Then, after people started paying attention, it made me think a bit more about what I wanted to say and how it was coming off to others. I was focused on what I wanted to say about my experiences and getting things off my chest. “I don’t think I was really thinking about that at first. You started writing your own material in your mid-twenties and what did you want listeners to get from listening to your songs? It allowed me to release and express the experiences, emotions and so much more that I was processing at a young age and helped me to move past it all.” It’s therapeutic, healing, and emotionally cleansing on a deep level for me. “It was and continues to be very beneficial to me in many different ways. What did you get out of singing on an emotional level? “My mother was a constant source of encouragement and support for my music throughout my entire life.” How much of encouragement were your family in your early days singing opera/classical music? I couldn’t begin to narrow down all the artists that have had a big impact on my sound and style. My mother said I was singing since I was young so I feel like I came into “consciousness” with it already there and I’ve never known what it was to be without it. “Music was always around me so I don’t remember a time without it. “I watched folks releasing huge amounts of emotion and dealing with their life’s struggles through the music they all sang together in church and that shook me at a young age.”ĭo you remember the first time you became aware of music and who was the artist that changed your life? What did you learn from those experiences? Let’s start at the beginning and your early days singing in Gospel Choirs.
Shawn James: “In spite of all the obstacles 2020 has presented, I truly can’t complain in the grand scheme of things.” Thanks for your time Shawn, how is life treating you at the moment? (Find the vinyl version here.) With the release of the album, and fantastic covers of “Rake” by Townes Van Zandt and “Like A Stone” by Audioslave, there was plenty to talk about with Shawn but, where better to start, than at the beginning of his wonderful musical story. Now, in 2021, that journey has brought him to the release of his stunning new album, The Guardian Collection. Growing up in Chicago, acclaimed singer/songwriter Shawn James started out his musical journey studying opera and classical singing in a Pentecostal Church.
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