|
|
|
Country music singer James Wesley, who performs at 9 p.m. Sunday on the Main Stage at Santa-Cali-Gon Days, has lived a Nashville fairytale of sorts. He moved his family from his humble, small-town beginnings, to Nashville in hopes of making it big in the industry.
Wesley talked about his love for country music and what it was like growing up in the small town of Mound Valley, Kan., population 200. Wesley will perform in West Virginia, North Carolina and Ohio prior to Sunday night. He is signed to Broken Bow Records where he has released three singles: “Jackson Hole,” the Top 40 hit “Real” and “Didn’t I.”
| 1. You grew up listening to the country classics like Marty Robbins, George Jones and Ray Price. How do you think country music has changed in the past several decades – and do you think it’s for the better or worse? |
Oh, wow. What a good question. (Laughs) Country music has definitely changed, big time. It’s more contemporary and pop-sounding. I do find, in being out on the road, that people still love that old country music because it’s almost extinct. I think there is always going to be room for some traditional-sounding country music. We’ve all heard it, and we were all raised on that growing up. |
| 2. What do you think of getting to share the Main Stage at Santa-Cali-Gon Days with musicians like Marty Stuart and The Eli Young Band? How do other country musicians help you grow in your own style? |
You learn a lot from those guys. You learn how to entertain a crowd and how to read a crowd, just by watching them. I’ve been fortunate enough to play the Grand Ole Opry several times and being with the living legends there, you definitely learn a lot by watching them perform. ... I’m really excited about playing there (at Santa-Cali-Gon Days). I tell you what, it’s going to be fun – I can’t wait to see it. |
| 3. What did your small-town upbringing teach you about life, and how has that carried on even as you moved to bigger cities like Nashville? |
I’ll tell you what, I learned a lot growing up in that little bity town of Mound Valley. One of those is being patient. There are all different walks of life, even in a small town. You learn a lot from people by listening. Everybody in that little town, if anybody needed help, there was always somebody there. The thing about growing up in a small town is that if something broke, you couldn’t just run to the store – you had to learn to fix it. (Wesley’s uncle still lives in the house that his nephew grew up in.) I went back in May and did a show in Parsons, Kan., on May 28, and then May 29, I was invited to come to (Mound Valley), and they threw a big reception for me, and I got a key to the city. We had punch and cake at City Hall, and they proclaimed May 29 to be my day. That was pretty cool, and it was an honor to be a part of that. |
| 4. What advice would you offer for young, aspiring musicians who are aiming to make it big in Nashville one day? |
The main thing that I learned is if you want it, you gotta go where it’s at. Somebody told me a long time ago that you’ve got to be present to win. That’s one of the words of advice that I took. You’ve got to give up a lot to chase the dream. That’s what I did – I sold my house, and I moved my wife and kids to Nashville. (Laughs) I thought I’d lost my mind, but you’ve got to follow your dream, and you don’t want to have any regrets. My wife believed in me, and we just took the gamble and gave up pretty much everything that we had to move to Nashville. You’ve got to be persistent, too – nobody else has got to want it more than you. It’s easy to get discouraged, but just keep your eyes focused on what you’re there for. There is definitely a lot of praying – I will say that. |
| 5. What are you hoping listeners will take away from your music? |
It’s just great music. I didn’t get to write any songs for this album (“Real”), but I love to find those songs that are stories just about everybody’s lives. There is a little bit of me and all of them in each of these songs on the album. There are some songs that are going to sound really traditional, there are some that are going to sound contemporary – and then there are some that are pretty rockin’. I’ve been on the other side of the fence for so long, and listening to what’s out there and what I like. Hopefully, everybody else will like what’s on the album. I’ve been doing a lot of writing, and hopefully the next album, I’ll get to have some songs on there. |
