Blogged By: De De Tillman

Source: Yahoo Music / Wikipedia

Media Credit: Debra James

Posted: Monday January 21, 2013 @9:32 p.m PST

Casey James was born in Plano, Texas on May 31, 1982 to Debra “Bybee James.”

Before American Idol, he played with his band, The Casey James Band, consisting of James, his brother, Billy Cole (bass), and Jacy McCann (drums). They recorded four songs, including the first song that James ever wrote, “Freezing,” back in 2002.

Casey James cites blues guitarist Doyle Bramhall II as a major musical influence and whom he would most like to perform with.  Another major influence is Stevie Ray Vaughan James named Vaughan’s In the Beginning (1992) as a formative album in his early years.

I got an album called “In the Beginning” and I learned every note on it, which was easier to do because it was early on in his career [it was recorded in 1980]. I learned all those notes and it opened me up to the blues. When you look what he was doing, a lot of it was covers, and then you go back and start listening to those guys — the originals Albert King, Freddie King, Albert Collins — those influences changed me, too.

Other influences cited in the article are southern rockers Lynyrd Skynyrd and Pearl Jam

CASEY JAMES ON TWITTER: @caseyjames

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