[Children Under the Sun plays in the background] As I write, James is singing one of his most beautiful songs, and it's at the same time engrossing and distracting.
So to bring you up to date.... We last saw James at Destroy The Night in Santa Cruz this July with Dale Ockerman and a host of uber-talented musicians who brought Morrison and the Doors back from the dead and slayed a set of Led Zeppelin the likes of which Robert Plant has never seen or heard. Trust me when I tell you, it was EPIC. There were whispers (and screams) to replay that show at some point and I hope they do - it was tremendous.
There's lots going on in James' world lately. He has new management, first of all, signing with Streetlight several months ago who all concerned hope will recognize the greatness within James and promote him accordingly. Because that sure hadn't happened despite thousands of Durbinators screaming about it.
And as James puts it, he is now "unwound" - IOW no longer with WindUp Records. We haven't heard any details on how that came about but as he always does, James has an awesome, positive attitude and will shine on regardless. So we assume, then, that Celebrate, despite being an absolutely excellent album, did not contain the rock attitude it might otherwise have had. So be it - Celebrate is, to quote one of the many glowing reviews it received, "ear candy" just the same and will only broaden the scope of James' repertoire in the years to come.
And speaking of broadening one's scope, James was proud to announce recently that a song he wrote was recorded by another artist, a first (and we're totally positive, not a last) for him! Congratulations on penning "Lying To Yourself" which appears on the Charm City Devils' new record, Battles.
In a few days, James is holding in-person auditions for band members, too. We Durb-a-holics smell TOUR on the heels of these auditions and seriously can't wait to ruin our hearing with that patented Durbin SCREAM once again. DurbinROCK is back and ready to bring it. Stay tuned for concert dates!
And by no means last in this list is that James, Heidi and Hunter expect an addition to the family in just a few weeks now - a baby girl for mommy and daddy to spoil and for big brother to protect! :) Congratulations to the Durbins and the little princess-to-be!!