About Timothy James Band
Blues
Timothy
James is fast making a name for himself not only in the Portland area, but in
the music community. This 17-year-old
guitar slinger is known for being able to hold his own with seasoned musicians
4 times his age.
At
the tender age of nine years old, when most 3rd graders are worried about being
picked first for a ballgame and watching the clock for when school is out,
Timothy was watching his father play guitar.
Now in his teens, he's the first on many people's minds when it comes to
the new face of the blues. Following in
the footsteps of such young greats as Jonny Lang and Kenny Wayne Shepherd.
Timothy
was born in March of 2002 and lives in the small rural community of Mulino,
Oregon with his parents and sister, just outside the Portland Metro area. While growing up in a small Oregon town,
Timothy was accustomed to jam sessions where his father and friends would get
together regularly to play music. He was
enrolled in Piano lessons for a couple of years at an early age, but never
seemed very inspired by piano. His
parents also co-hosted an annual event called the Mulino Blues Festival that
began in 2000 and continues to be a favorite summer, memory-making event and
attracting top-notch talent from around the region to play.
It
was during rehearsals for the MBF one year that Timothy said, “ I want to do a song with you dad!”. That was in 2011 and while he had learned
some chords and strumming, it was that performance of Knocking on Heaven’s Door
that really got him hooked. He continued
to learn more and more about all things guitar and music and the next year got
up solo and played two songs to an amazed crowd.
Over
the next several years, Timothy attended local open mics and jam sessions
honing his skills and learning new ones from the many seasoned players he was
jamming with. It wasn’t long before his
skills on the guitar had surpassed the Old Man’s so his dad hired a
multi-instrumental teacher, Ken Brewer, to take him to the next level. Timothy began to get noticed by other
working musicians at the jams and before long he was being invited as a guest
player for several paying gigs.
It
was in 2016 that the family joined the Cascade Blues Association to sign
Timothy up for the Journey to Memphis competition with the goal of playing
during the International Blues Challenge in Memphis, Tennessee, a renowned
contest that brings acts from around the world.
Timothy was selected in 2016 to be the CBA’s Youth Representative and he
played in various clubs along the famous Beale street in 2017 and again in
2018.
Since
that first trip to Memphis for IBC Timothy has played at the Waterfront Blues
Festival, the Gorge Brews and Blues Festival, the Cathedral Park Jazz Festival,
the Tualatin Crawfish Festival and numerous venues throughout the Portland
area. On his 16th Birthday he
was invited to play with famous Blue Man Walter Trout at Yoshi’s in Oakland,
California and with Curtis Salgado in Portland Oregon.