September 14, 2009
This fall I will be hitting the road with the "Breaking Southern Ground Tour featuring The Zac Brown Band," where I will perform with the tour's supporting acts Sonia Leigh, Levi Lowery and Nic Cowan. As described on The Zac Brown Band website, "The tour will provide concert goers with the full Zac Brown Band experience: eat-and-greets featuring Zac cooking up his signature recipes for a few lucky fans in most markets, to performances by three up-and-coming Atlanta-based artists who have been signed by Zac Brown to his label Southern Ground Records: Sonia Leigh, Levi Lowrey and Nic Cowan. The shows will host various on-stage combinations of the musicians integrated throughout the event as Zac Brown Band will make appearances during each artist's set and invite them to join the full band later in the night."

Over the last few months I have worked on studio projects for Evan McHugh & Nathan Beaver, performed with a number of artists including Blue Mother Tupelo, Kingsized & Sonia Leigh, and kept Thursday nights exotic playing vibes with Tongo Hiti.

September 16, 2008
Tonight I will be performing with Kirk McMillan at the Mable House Amphitheater in Mableton, GA, opening up for Kenny Loggins. We will also be playing on Saturday night, September 20th, at the Red Light Cafe as part of Atlanta's Atlantis Music Conference. In addition, I will be playing with Clay Cook on Friday at Smith's Olde Bar as part the conference's Fram Jam, and with Emily Kate Boyd later that night at the Red Light Cafe.

James Evans - Fighting Pigeons

February 15, 2008
I spent the first week of February performing on the Cayamo music festival cruise with Evan McHugh. The festival featured Lyle Lovett, Emmylou Harris, Patty Griffin, Brandi Carlile and Shawn Colvin performing on a cruise ship with ports of call in Cozumel, Grand Cayman Island and Jamaica. I also sat in with a few other artists on the ship, including Beth Wood, Clay Cook, Arlington Priest and Shawn Mullins.

In January I spent some time in the studio with Kristian & Brandon Bush, working on some of their new songs, and I did some shows with Geoff Achison, Ben Wakeman and The Drexlers. I've got a show with Tyler Reeve coming up to celebrate the release of his debut CD, which I recorded drums on last November. And I'll be touring with Art "Buddy" Edwards (of The Refreshments) at the end of March to promote his new CD, which I also recorded drums on last year.

	Tyler Reeve - Whiskey Down		Art Edwards - Songs from Memory

September 24, 2007
This week I'm heading up to the midwest on a run of shows with Geoff Achison, ending with a blues cruise aboard a riverboat on the Missouri River in Nebraska. Here's some information about the shows:

DATE	CITY	VENUE
September 27	Louisville, KY	Hideaway Saloon
September 28	Saint Louis, MO	Lucas Schoolhouse
September 29	Kansas City, MO	Knucklehead's
September 30	Omaha, NE	Blues Society Of Omaha Blues Cruise

In October, I will be performing with Kristin Markiton, Evan McHugh, Kingsized and Tongo Hiti at some clubs and festivals in and around Atlanta. Corey Smith's Hard-Headed Fool is out this week, which I recorded drums on earlier this year. A segment on Joe Rathbone aired on Good Day Atlanta (FOX) recently, which included us performing "Like Some Angel" from Joe's new release Under the Scorpio Moon. And Tongo Hiti continues to find itself in new and unchartered territory - a recent stop at 99x's morning show included an impromptu jam with Kevn Kinney of Drivin' and Cryin', which can be heard here.

	Corey Smith - Hard-Headed Fool		Joe Rathbone - Good Day Atlanta

 

May 12, 2007
This summer I will be returning to the road with the BoDeans for a number of shows, including their annual performance at Ravinia outside Chicago. So far, these are the confirmed dates:

DATE	CITY	VENUE
May 18	Newport News, VA	Virginia Arts Festival
June 7	Oshkosh, WI	Waterfest
June 8	Peoria, IL	Center Stage at the Landing
June 9	Highland Park, IL	Ravinia

I will also spend the summer performing with Tongo Hiti, Kristin Markiton and Geoff Achison, a phenomenal blues guitarist / songwriter from Melbourne, Australia who has recently moved to the U.S. And for the weeks of June 11th & June 18th I will be teaching at Camp Jam in Atlanta.
 
Some recently released recordings that I have worked on include Evan McHugh's From the Second Chair (drums), South 70's Two Lane Road (percussion and vibraphone) and David Labruyere's Farrago Dance Mix (vibraphone), which also features John Mayer, Gregoire Maret, John Ellis and a number of other exceptional musicians.

	Evan McHugh - From the Second Chair		South 70 - Two Lane Road		David Labruyere - Farrago Dance Mix

 

September 5, 2006
This upcoming Saturday, September 9th, I will be performing a free concert with Shawn Mullins in Portland, Oregon in celebration of the newly released KINK FM Live 9 CD. I'm looking forward to this show, as it will be the first time I've played with Shawn in over 7 years. The concert will be held at the Pioneer Courthouse Square located in downtown Portland. Shawn has spent the last few months traveling around the US promoting his latest CD on Vanguard Records, 9th Ward Picking Parlor. I have heard that the second single (to be released this fall) is a track called "Blue As You," written by Shawn and Pete Droge, which I recorded vibraphone on earlier this year.
 
This past summer I kept myself busy doing a few shows with the BoDeans in Wisconsin and Illinois, and with Kristin Markiton, Coy Bowles and the Fellowship, Kingsized and Tongo Hiti in and around Atlanta. Kristin's performance on TBS Storyline, which originally aired on August 12th, can be viewed online here.

	Kristin Markiton - TBS Storyline		Coy Bowles - Into the Distance		Ellis Paul - Essentials

This fall I will be doing some shows with Delta Moon at a few blues festivals in North Carolina, and some more shows with Kristin Markiton, The Drexlers, and others around Atlanta. Coy Bowles will be performing on a show at the Northside Tavern in Atlanta on September 29th to celebrate the release of his debut CD Into the Distance, which I played drums and vibraphone on. Finally, Ellis Paul is releasing a 2 disc retrospective entitled Essentials on October 10th. The second disc contains a few tracks that I had recorded with him, including the version of "Sweet Mistakes" featured in the Farrelly Brother's film "Shallow Hall" (which, I've been told, stars my identical twin brother, Jack Black....).
 

January 25, 2006
After two years of production, Kristin Markiton's debut CD Wandering Moon is set to be released on Sunday, February 26th. The CD features Kristin performing songs written by a number of talented songwriters, including Ellis Paul, John Austin, Andrew Hyra, Bill Sheffield and Walter Sorrells. I co-produced the CD along with Kristian Bush, John Shoffner and Kristin, recording and mixing in a number of studios around Atlanta, including APC, Orphan Studio and Music by Night. Wandering Moon includes performances by Kristian Bush of Sugarland (guitar, mandolin and vocals), Mark Van Allen of Blueground Undergrass (pedal steel and dobro), David Labruyere of John Mayer's band (bass), Brandon Bush of Train (piano and organ), Scott Patton of Sugarland (guitar), Rob Henson of Telegram (bass), and others, including myself on drums and percussion.
 
We have scheduled a very special show at Eddie's Attic in Decatur, GA on Sunday, February 26th to celebrate the release. The show will begin at 6:00 with a performance by Telegram, and then a set by Kristin (backed up by several of the players from Wandering Moon). And a few surprises. Tickets are available through www.eddiesattic.com for $10 ($12 day of the show). Wandering Moon will be available for purchase at the show.
 
For information about Kristin, including sound clips of the CD, please visit www.kristinmarkiton.com. More information will be added to the site in the coming weeks.
 
In other news, a few other CDs I have recently worked on are soon to be released: drums on Fokushima's Worried Well, percussion on Jackson Rohm's Four On The Floor, drums on Billy Gewin's Hodges Shan't Be Shot, vibraphone on Shawn Mullins' 9th Ward Picking Parlor, and drums on the BoDeans tracks on the soundtrack to The Godfather of Green Bay.

	Fokushima - Worried Well		Billy Gewin - Hodges Shan't Be Shot		Shawn Mullins - 9th Ward Pickin' Parlor

In addition to Kristin's CD release show, I've got some upcoming shows with the BoDeans, a CD release show with the Drexlers and a few exotic evenings with Atlanta's favorite Hawaiian ensemble Tongo Hiti. Aloha Oe!