Meet James Combs | Songwriter, Producer, Singer, Guitarist, Music Licensor, Music Supervisor

We had the good fortune of connecting with James Combs and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi James, why did you decide to pursue a creative path?
I have always been mesmerized by the power of music and felt a strong urge to be close to it and make it myself. As a kid, I would hang out in my older sisters’ groovy bedroom in the basement of our house in West Lafayette, IN, and just listen to every record they had – a lot of which were 60s records – the Beatles, Crosby Stills and Nash, etc. I would go over to the laundromat near our house, which had a jukebox, and just pump dimes into it until I ran out of them so I could listen to the songs. Growing up in Indiana, it was hard to imagine a life in music. Everyone you knew had practical jobs – teacher, secretary, fireman, mechanic… you never saw people who were doing music for a living. But when I was in college, I had a band that immediately connected with our community – we got a small record deal and began to tour. Then got invited to play on the BBC and at the Lollapalooza festival and tour the country and suddenly it seemed like there was another life beyond just traditional kinds of jobs – that maybe you could really do self-expression as a viable enterprise. I really loved playing music for people in our band, but I expanded into promoting shows, and then music licensing and music supervision once I got to LA. So the miracle of Los Angeles, to me, is that a music life can be had here. You can be an artist and you can also do other kinds of music work that together add up to a living. Because, really, all I want to do is make music and help spread the word about other talented people who make music. So I am fortunate in that that’s how I spend my time these days.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
Something that has been helpful for me in distinguishing myself is that I have always admired artists who could be linked to larger genres of music but seem to exist outside of those genre as well. Lucinda Williams would be an example – you could call her an Americana artist and it absolutely applies but her writing POV is so singular that she seems to be both part of the genre and very much a one-of-a-kind artist. So that is the kind of artist I try to be. I play what might loosely be called Americana music but I have a broad palette that I pull from when I write and at this point in my life, I am really only interested in honest expression – I try to never make a false move when I write a song or write something that feels like a standard-issue Americana song.

My motto is “create freely, edit ruthlessly” and I think i am pretty true to it. One review of my last album said “James Combs writes Americana Music for people who don’t think they like Americana music.” I loved that and it felt like they got what I am trying to do.

I also think having studied both English and American poetry when I was in college had a huge impact on me. Once you are exposed to great writing, it is hard to not aspire to great writing. It lifts your standards and shows you what is possible.

Things I am proud of… having co-created an international music festival that is still going today (www.lotusfest.org), having co-written and played on a song for the great Iggy Pop and Best Coast that Rolling Stone called one of Iggy’s best-ever collaborations, getting my songs in some of my all time favorite TV shows: Six Feet Under, True Blood, Shameless, doing a Peel Session for the BBC, and just being welcomed into a warm community of great Americana musicians here in LA. I am proud of the friends I have and the community that we all share. Great people, great music.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Assuming this friend was an arts/music person, we would start with the Sunday Farmers Market in Hollywood, maybe brunch at the Magic Castle to drink champagne and watch magicians (because its so old Hollywood and live magic is FUN), take a hike around Lake Hollywood, head over to Laurel Canyon and do a rock-n-roll-houses tour (Joni, Frank, Carole, Jim and many others), and have dinner at Pace.

Other days would include trips to the Hollywood Bowl, The Norton Simon Museum, The Getty Villa, The Greek Theater, Book Soup, Amoeba Records, Skylight Books, Paradise Cove in Malibu for breakfast and beaching, tacos at Teri’s on Melrose, bagels at Courage in Silverlake, The Annenberg Beach House for swimming, The Inn of The Seventh Ray in Topanga for breakfast, The Theatricum Botanicum in Topanga for a play, a walk around the Silver Lake Reservoir, and dinner at Viet Noodle House in Atwater Village.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Oh yes – so many. I would like to thank my parents for valuing the idea that you should do what makes you happy for a living if you possibly can. – as well as my sisters for being incredibly supportive and great inspirational artists themselves. And my friend Gary Calamar, who plucked me from a sorry point in my life and helped me land a music job in Los Angeles that ultimately led me to where I am today. But yes, so many friends and music supporters and inspirations along the way. I could write about them all day.

Website: www.jamescombs.com

Instagram: @jamescombsmusic

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-combs-859b2836

Other: Hear my music here: https://open.spotify.com/artist/6gNQBe5A3jCL2sgAwAoUR2?si=TEdtcP79Sy6RqZH5qYpHxw

Image Credits
Photos by Karen Combs and James Combs