September 27, 2018 | UHCL Staff
This season, University of Houston-Clear Lake’s Bayou Theater is showcasing talent from around the world – and inside the TV. On Oct. 12 at 7:30 p.m., folk multi-instrumentalist and headliner Graeme James, a New Zealander, will share the stage with Alex Preston, a third-place finalist from the 13th season of “American Idol.”
“I didn’t know what a violin was when I was 5, but I liked the sound and I sort of played ‘air violin,” said James. “My parents told me to choose an instrument when I was 7, and I still wanted the violin. It was the start of my parents’ suffering and endurance of the sounds I made. It’s not a very forgiving instrument when you’re starting out.”
By the time James was 10, he had decided to become a concert violinist and practiced diligently through high school. Then began taking courses toward a degree in elementary education in college and stopped playing the violin. “I started the guitar, and started composing music and singing,” he said. “Over the years, I added more instruments and it all came together.”
He never completed his degree in elementary education. Briefly, he tried some courses in electrical engineering. “I was desperately trying to do anything but music because I thought trying to become a professional musician was a terrible idea. But nothing else worked, no matter how I tried to avoid it,” he said.
One day, James said he walked into a music store and purchased a loop pedal on credit. “It was a really terrible plan. I walked in and got this equipment and just hoped I could pay it off,” he said. “With it, I could record chords and play them back to myself immediately, in a loop. Then I could add more instruments and my voice. It helped me build a one-man band and it was a turning point in my career. I had learned all these instruments, but I had no way to functionally put them all together until I found this loop pedal.”
When James’ car broke down and he had no money to repair it, he took his loop pedal and went on the street to perform. called “busking.” “I got a great response and my car was back on the road in two days,” he said. “I thought, this could be interesting. I can go out on the road as one artist and have the sound of a whole band.”
James quit all his studies and became a full-time busker. “Wellington, New Zealand is statistically the windiest city in the world,” he said. “Winter was difficult. I survived by playing bars. It kick-started my performances. It’s also how I met my wife, who’s now my manager.”
Now touring the world as a one-man folk singer who sounds like he has an entire band behind him, James said he believed audiences would connect to folk music. “It’s high energy and I think folk music resonates with people.”
Preston, a native of New Hampshire who’s been playing music since he was 4, mastered 12 instruments and writes most of his own lyrics. He was a finalist on the 13th season of “American Idol,” and released a self-titled album in 2015. Since then, Preston has opened for the Backstreet Boys, Gavin DeGraw and Of Monsters and Men.
