"As we all know, to be a successful artist nowadays, having a nice voice and/or playing well an instrument is not enough. Often, it takes also great attitude, communicational skills and, if possible, some sort of “hidden talent”. Meet James Bay, a young singer-songwriter who has all those things and much more."
Charisma. A powerful voice. Intelligent lyrics. Guitar mastery. Besides a killer drawing skill and deep fashion sense (which led Topman to partner with him and release his own clothing line) make it seem almost obvious that James Michael Bay, or simply James Bay, would have a stellar career.
Back in the day, James would wear mostly black clothes and a charming black hat, which became kind of his “signature accessory”. I, myself, remember thinking it was really cool of him to wear hats, which, naturally, led me to want to wear one too (I have almost 10 different types of hats now, from all sorts of materials and colors. I love them!). Shocking right? Well, I think that the more shocking fact is that none of them is black or similar to James’...
His style, in clothing and musically has developed and changed much since then, transforming him into a symbol, in a trendsetter, in a brand himself. But James is much more than a that, he’s a talented singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist that, as you may have already realized, is our Artist of The Week.
Due to all the awards he’s received or been nominated and to his most popular songs (which you’ll hear throughout this post), some of you may have heard about him, but in case you’re curious about his origins and accomplishments or if you haven’t heard of him at all, here’s a quick get-to-know-him:
James was born on the 4th September 1990, in Hitchin, Hertfordshire, England. He grew up in a house filled with jazz and classic rock, taking further interest in music when, by the age of 11, he listened to “Layla” by Eric Clapton. Instantly, things changed, he felt something different inside him and decided to pick up an old rusty 5 strings guitar, that was hidden somewhere in his house and tried to learn it.
(Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:James_Bay_(21028653408).jpg)
Seven years later, he moved to Brighton, to pursue a high-education degree in music. Living there, he used to perform in open mic nights; in one of them, he was lucky enough to have his performance recorded and uploaded online by a fan. This grabbed the attention of a Republic Records A&R, one week later, he was signed to the label.
His first tours were supporting Kodaline in 2013, Hozier in 2014 and Taylor Swift in 2015.
His first ever solo tour, soon happened, in 2016, entitled “Chaos and the Calm”, the same name of his debut album.
His discography is made of extended plays, amongst which 3 deserve to be highlighted:
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The Dark Of The Morning (2013);
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Hold Back The River (2014);
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Other Sides (2015);
And one full-length album called Chaos and The Calm.
Bay is already seen as one of the best songwriters of our time. He’s a clever songwriter, who knows how to properly balance figures of speech and real-life passages.
In the past few years, he has been receiving high praises and recognition winning in 2015 the Critic’s Choice of BRIT Awards; the Breakthrough Solo Artist by GQ Men of The Year; and the Q Best New Act by Q Awards. In 2016, he was Grammy nominated in three categories (Best New Artist, Best Rock Album, and Best Rock Song), and won: the British Male Solo Artist by BRIT Awards, the Best International Newcomer by Echo Music Prize, the Most Performed Work by Ivor Novello Awards and the Q Best Solo Artist by Q Awards.
His songs, in general, are really well-constructed in a thriving combination of great lyrics, catchy, strong melodies, and exciting guitar picks that are the cherry on the pie.
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Here wrote A., captain of The Musical Expedition. 
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