Early James Frames Whip-Smart Wordplay With Sinewy, Rawboned Musical Power On New Album Medium Raw
19th September 2024Early James will release his third album, Medium Raw, on January 10th, 2025, via Easy Eye Sound. The album lives up to its name, presenting its brace of smart, playful, and often fiercely rocking original songs to intimate life with a stunningly vital sound that thrives on its lived-in, real-world ambiance. After recording his first two albums at Easy Eye Sound Studios, producer Dan Auerbach felt like Medium Raw needed to come together in a fresh setting.
“I wanted to try to find that power of when I first saw him, when it was just him and his guitar,” Auerbach says. “After working with him a couple of times in the studio, I felt like I wasn’t going to be able to do it in the same kind of way. The comforts and luxuries of the studio, where you’re able to hear everything and make adjustments and changes, wasn’t right for this project. Some of my favorite albums are those Arhoolie records produced by Chris Strachwitz that were recorded in houses, by Fred McDowell, Lightnin’ Hopkins. I felt like we might get better results if we did it in a house.”
The house in question, known as “Honky Chateau,” was an old Nashville property owned by photographer and artist Buddy Jackson. Over 100 years old, the house has plaster on the walls, plastered ceilings, old wallpaper and big oak floors. James, Auerbach and crew brought in all the recording gear themselves – including an old 50’s Universal Audio tube console which was originally built by FAME Studios’ Rick Hall. Mixing consoles were set up in an upstairs bedroom. James and the players on the album – longtime bassist Adrian Marmolejo, drummer Jeff Clemens and percussionist Sam Bacco – were all set up in different rooms downstairs.
James notes that pretty much everything you hear on Medium Raw was, as its title suggests, cut “au naturel.”
“There are just two overdubs, on ‘Rag Doll’ and ‘Nothing Surprises Me Anymore,’” he says. “We had intended to get a violin solo on ‘Nothing Surprises Me Anymore,’ and Dan said, ‘Ah, I came up with something.’ On the trio tracks, it was a challenge. Jeff Clemens, who drummed, was two rooms away — I couldn’t see him. We didn’t have in-ear monitors, and it was the first time for him hearing any of those songs. I love his drumming with G. Love (& Special Sauce) and Kenny Vaughan so much. You can hear Jeff kind of tiptoeing through it, and it makes the song move in a really cool way. It’s not hyper-polished, but it has Jeff’s confidence, and you can’t teach that.”
“James’ little Princeton amp was right behind him, there were no baffles or anything, and so when he was soloing it was all bleeding into his vocal mic,” explains Auerbach. “We had these beautiful microphones sucking up the soul of the house. It sounded fucking amazing. When you have headphones on, you can hear that room. You can even see the room when you close your eyes.”
Beyond seven James originals — six previously unrecorded numbers and the fan favorite “Dig To China,” which dates back to his first EP — the new album includes songs co-written with Auerbach and top Nashville songwriter Pat McLaughlin (“I Got This Problem”); Sheryl Crow’s frequent collaborator Jeff Trott (“Nothing Surprises Me Anymore”); roots singer-songwriter Langhorne Slim (“Go Down Swinging”); Irish songwriter Mick Flannery (“Upside Down Umbrella”); and James’ former Birmingham roommate Ryan Sobb (“Unspeakable Thing”).
The writing continues to display the hallmarks of James’ distinctive, one-of-a-kind style: whip-smart wordplay, upended clichés, humor both light and dark, and a deep intelligence that frequently reflects a literary sensibility.
Fresh off opening slots for Charley Crockett, James is back on the road this Fall where he’ll open for The Wallflowers, The Heavy Heavy, and St. Paul & the Broken Bones. On November 2nd, James and his touring band (Marmolejo and drummer Joey Rudisell) will begin a European headline tour, with dates in the Netherlands, France, Germany, the Czech Republic, Austria, Germany, and Denmark.
Early James 2024 Tour Dates
Sept 19 – Nashville, TN – Easy Eye Sound Fish Fry
Sept 20 – Memphis, TN – Graceland Soundstage*
Sept 21 – Fort Smith, AR – Temple Live*
Sept 26 – New Braunfels – Gruene Hall*
Sept 27 – Odessa, TX – The Ector Theatre*
Sept 28 – Santa Fe, NM – Lensic PAC*
Sept 30 – Solana Beach, CA – Belly Up*
Oct 3 – Nashville, TN – The Blue Room+
Oct 4 – Louisville, KY – Whirling Tiger+
Oct 6 – Atlanta, GA – Terminal West+
Oct 9 – Baton Rouge, LA – Chelsea’s Live#
Oct 11 – Monroe, LA – Enoch’s Pub
Nov 2 – Groningen, NL – TakeRoot Festival
Nov 3 – Breda, NL – Podium Phoenix
Nov 4 – Eindhoven, NL – Muziekgebouw
Nov 6 – Grevenbroich, DE – Kultus Das Café
Nov 7 – Voerde, DE – Brauprojekt 777
Nov 12 – Paris, FR – Supersonic Records
Nov 13 – Frankfurt, DE – Das Bett
Nov 14 – Steyr, AT – Röda
Nov 15 – Vienna, AT – Chelsea
Nov 16 – Šumperk, CZ – Blues Alive
Nov 18 – Halle, DE – Objekt 5
Nov 19 – Hanover, DE – Hölderlin Eins
Nov 20 – Berlin, DE – Cassiopeia
Nov 21 – Hamburg, DE – HeadCRASH
Nov 22 – Sondeborg, DK – Sonderborghus
Nov 23 – Copenhagen, DK – Loppen
* supporting The Wallflowers
+ supporting The Heavy Heavy
# supporting St. Paul & The Broken Bones
Find Early James online at:
https://www.earlyjames.com/
https://www.instagram.com/earlyjamesandthelatest/
https://www.facebook.com/earlyjamesandthelatest
https://twitter.com/earlyjamesbham
