James Armstrong

Guitarist, singer and songwriter James Armstrong was born to play the blues. His mother was a blues singer. His father played jazz guitar. Born in Los Angeles, California, Armstrong formed his first band in the seventh grade and by the age of 17 he was touring the country.

In his twenties, Armstrong was the youngest guitarist to play in Smokey Wilson's legendary band and helped form a blues group named Mama Roo, a collaboration that resulted in an album of the same name, and his first recording contract with Crescendo Records. In the early 90's he was discovered and signed by HighTone Records while playing in a Santa Monica bar, later immortalized in his song “Mr.B's.”

Then, just as he was about to tour with his critically acclaimed first album Sleeping With A Stranger, tragedy struck. The events surrounding a home invasion left Armstrong without the use of his left hand or arm, including permanent nerve damage. This threatened to end his career forever, but thanks to the support of friends, fans and the blues community Armstrong came back two years later with a second album, Dark Night.

Since then, he’s continued to progress, perfecting his songwriting, vocal and slide guitar skills, all the while developing his gift for turning hardship into song. His third album, Got It Goin' On garnered critical praise and two WC Handy award nominations for best blues guitarist and best song of the year with “Pennies and Picks.” His latest release, Blues at the Border manages to honor the sound of traditional blues while giving it the contemporary grit his fans have grown accustomed to hearing.

Armstrong has worked with acts including Albert Collins, Keb Mo, Coco Montoya, Tommy Castro, Shemekia Copeland, Chaka Khan, Charlie Musselwhite, Ricky Lee Jones, Mitch Michell (Jimi Hendrix's drummer) and Peter Tork (The Monkees), just to name a few. His music has also been featured in several films including Hear No Evil with Martin Sheen and Marlie Matlin, Speechless with Micheal Keaton and Geena Davis and The Florentine with Jeremy Davies and Luke Perry.

Seen live, Armstrong has a confident stage presence that combines grace with mischief. Few blues artists can play a crowd as well as he can, shifting dynamics from a whisper to a growl. Little wonder he's been dubbed The Ambassador of the Blues.

www.m-shop.com | www.jarmblues.com 

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