Artist Information
Nashville honky-tonk crooner, James Carothers, is known best for his stone-country originals and spot-on impressions of several of country music's greatest icons.
In 2015, James left a technician job at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico and returned to his native state of Tennessee to pursue a country music career at the unlikely ripe-old-age of 33. George Jones' own widow, Nancy, personally hired James for his first steady gig at the George Jones Museum in Nashville, allowing him to make a living playing music and to hone his hobby-turned-profession in an accelerated fashion. Since then, James has played several shows each week in downtown Nashville at places like The George Jones and AJ's Good Time Bar when he's not on the road, having played over 1500 public, corporate, and private events since January 2015.
In addition to supporting his young family and connecting with other musicians and songwriters, performing downtown has helped James build a large fan base of folks drawn through the doors by the booming voice echoing down Broadway and 2nd Avenue. Playing so many shows in a relatively short time-frame in a city with an excess of raw talent forced him to sharpen his stage show quickly and continue to refine the thing he's always enjoyed most — entertaining and interacting with his audiences in a way that leaves most people feeling like they've made a new friend.
James was the 2018 WSM Road Show Winner, resulting in the opportunity to make his Grand Ole Opry debut opening for Alan Jackson at the Ryman Auditorium on January 17, 2020. He also got the nod to open select engagements on Jackson’s "Honky Tonk Highway Tour." Over the past few years, he has enjoyed playing several opening slots, festivals, fairs, and private events in locations all across the United States and has even had the opportunity to travel to Canada, Japan, Scotland, and Norway for shows.
James released a new album called Songs and Stories on November 22, 2019. Previous releases include Still Country, Still King: A Tribute to George Jones (September 2018), his first full-length original album Relapse (May 2017), and an EP Honky Tonk Land June 2014).
