James Dixon

The journey to becoming the Folk and Blues musician he is today started when James first picked up a guitar at age 5. One of his first musical inspirations was watching the Talking Heads Stop Making Sense concert on a VHS recorded off the TV. Seeing Davis Byrne’s dedication to performing really struck a chord with James, building his belief that the ‘show’ is more important than the ‘single’. At age 11, James’ dad bought him a guitar, harmonica and Neil Young’s Unplugged album music book. This album was his first realisation of the power of lyrics and the emotion they carry within them.

The first music that really took a hold of James includes Led Zeppelin, Queen, Jimi Hendrix and Neil Young. These artists gave him a strong grounding in music which had folk and blues traditions buried right in their core. Taking note from John Martyn, John Butler and Kelly Joe Phelps, James has obsessively crafted his fingerstyle technique on guitar over the years.

A combination of singer, songwriter, guitarist and storyteller, James has strong Folk roots. His Folk influences are musicians from both sides of the Atlantic including Ralph McTell, Bert Jansch, Tom Paxton and Pete Seeger. Moving to Exeter, James played regularly at Philip Henry’s jam night and Topsham Folk Club. One blurry night at Mama Stones even saw him play a few songs alongside Joss Stone. James’s Bromeliad Acoustic Sessions EP was released in 2017 and he has continued to tell the stories behind these songs at hundreds of gigs around the South West.

Free entry, please call the B-Bar on 01752 242021 if you would like to book a table.