Shawn James is an American artist with a distinctive style of music. Blending elements of rock, folk, and blues, the artist is quite well-rounded, addressing profound themes in his songs.
In 2023, James came to Brazil with two completely sold-out shows, and in October 2024, he returns to the country for a series of six shows. The Muerte Mi Amor begins on October 11th in São Paulo, at Carioca Club. He then performs in Curitiba (October 12th, CWB Hall), Florianópolis (October 13th, Célula Showcase), Brasília (October 15th, Infinu), Rio de Janeiro (October 16th, Solar de Botafogo), and Belo Horizonte (October 18th, A Autentica).
In an exclusive interview with Wikimetal , the artist discussed his new album Honor And Vengeance (2023), his career, Brazil, and more.
It's no secret how warm the Brazilian audience is, especially towards the artists they're fans of. Shawn James spoke precisely about this: “I've never experienced the kind of audience and energy we had in Brazil. You know, we've had good shows in many places, but the energy we felt there was greater than anything I've ever felt. They knew the words to every song. It was very emotional for me, and beautiful.”
He admitted that he needs to learn more about Brazilian artists, but revealed that during his time in the country, someone made him a playlist of national artists: “I was listening to a lot of classic bossa nova artists and listening to playlists and everything, and the style and the smoothness and the silkiness and like, everything about that genre is incredible. And the grooves… so I’ve been listening to a lot of bossa nova and that style. I feel like I could do something cool in that genre. Maybe someday.”
Honor and Vengeance is a great album in which Shawn James addresses sensitive themes and connects with a range of emotions. Regarding this, the musician explained that his idea was to create a conceptual work, a kind of Western film.
“In the beginning, I created these characters, and then I was like, well, why? What’s the story? What’s the drama? What happens? And then I created this story where this man was protecting his wife, and this outlaw kills his wife, and then, defending her, he kills the outlaw. But by killing the outlaw, he then becomes an outlaw. And he wasn’t wrong for what he did, but maybe the law or the government sees him as wrong. And that’s where the story begins. And trying to put myself in the place of a character like that is difficult sometimes, because it’s emotional and it’s hard.”
Precisely because it connects with so many sensitive emotions, this work brought challenges, and James confessed that “trying to reflect what happens in the story through the music” was the most difficult part of the process: “Sometimes it can be difficult, you know, like when the bounty hunters are going after him. I wanted to simulate, like, they're riding, you know what I mean? And then it wasn't necessarily difficult, but it was like you had to think outside the box and have to be creative with how you approach it.”
“I think one of the most difficult parts, however, was the moment when they encounter the bounty hunter and the outlaw and they start fighting. It was difficult because I wanted to think about how to be intense and how to make it full of tension and energy, but also kind of sad because he's being defeated and he's being captured.”
Listening to the musician's discography, it's possible to perceive that he navigates through a series of different styles, with distinct elements, making it difficult to categorize him, which may be an issue for some: “This makes me free. I think it's good and bad as an artist and as someone passionate about music. I think it's beautiful because I can follow what I feel and my emotions and what inspires me. And I'm not limited to one thing.”
