REVIEWS
Brantford Expositor, December 7th, 2006
Article by Glen Silverthorn
Last Friday night I was the fortunate recipient of a
fine new Cd performed by Rusty James, a fellow who is quickly making
his mark on the local entertainment scene. I not only got the Cd but
also had the opportunity, with my wife, to enjoy his live act at the
Imperial Club. He really mixes up his program of tunes with songs from
many genres of music, appealing to audiences of all ages. He uses a
Roland Discovery 5 keyboard to program his accompaniment as his
traveling band. During all cover material, he plays the keyboard and
guitar very professionally while singing with a clear voice that
expresses the words, at times, very much like the original artist. His
own voice, however, has great projection and he brings out the depth of
meaning on original song material that he has written himself. This was
evident during the live show and on the Cd which I listened to later.
It is very evident that Rusty likes to explore with many different and,
at times, unusual sounds.
From the opening track, Pump, an upbeat instrumental which has a fast rhythm and an explosive melodic line, I was impressed with the use of various underlying beat patterns and tempos. This one even had a segment of Flight of the Bumble Bee. His sound engineer encouraged Rusty to use his own voice on songs like Time, which has an Eagles' Flavour, rather than try to copy another singer's voice. His voice really captures the mood on this beautiful ballad. The Way I Live has a squeeze box sound in the background and it is receiving frequent play on the local radio stations. I Remember, with a funky beat, number 6 on the Cd has received radio play all over Ontario. Further sound explorations come when we hear Secrets, which employs a pan flute and captures an ethnic Indian effect with the use of a hand drum. The rest of the album continues to be diversified in the arrangements. His live performance showed even more versatility on covers of such artists as Garth Brooks, Roy Orbinson, Buddy Holly, Ray Price, Patsy Cline, Elvis, Bon Jovi, Chuck Berry, Mannford Mann and more. His background accompaniment is usually created from scratch and I was taken, particularly, with his arrangements of Blood, Sweat and Tear's Spinning Wheel.
Rusty comes from a family of musicians and grew up in Whitby Ontario. His father, who never took a lesson, could play an excellent honky tonk piano and his brother Larry, was a sought after professional drummer who influenced Rusty during his younger years. In his youth, Rusty had the occasion to play sax in the Whitby Brass band and also drums and percussion with the Humber stage band. Sitting in on the drum kit during a music festival in Uxbridge, Rusty had the privilege of meeting Lawrence Gowan who was also performing with Ronnie Hawkins.
He likes to recall touring with his Grand Funk tribute trio and being out in the middle of nowhere just outside of Saskatoon, when his bass player decided to call it quits and head for home. When luck would have it, that a phenomenal player, Brian McLeod just happened to be on the scene and he knew all the material. That very first night it was discovered that Brain was equally proficient on guitar and drums as well. It must have confused the crowd when, for each of the three sets, the musicians came out playing different instruments. This trio made it to the coast and then back to Ontario. Brian went on to join Billy Henderson in Chilliwack and co wrote a strings of hits like California Girl, Gone Gone Gone my girl, Watcha Gonna Do and many more.
Back home Rusty joined the work force and became an agent for Prudential, when shortly after taking a position with that company, he received a call from the Durham Regional Police Service to which he served for over 11 years. During this time he had the privilege of performing with fellow officers in bands like the Coppertones, Shades of Blue and Badge at many charitable functions.
Eventually leaving the force to become involved in Health & Wellness and to also return to his roots in music, he had the chance to fill in on guitar with the Ian Thomas band and intermingled with many other great Canadian musicians like Kim Mitchell, Jeff Healey, Tom Cochrane, Frank Woodcock etc...
After moving to Brantford four years ago, Rusty has been supporting a variety of charitable organizations including ALS, playing at the Creamery for Music Fest and Can Jam for Cancer at the Knights of Columbus. More recently, he has been supporting Stop Bullying Today and tonight you can hear him at the newest venue in town, The Oxford Circus, promoting, with the management, The Food & Toy Drive. There's no cost to attend, but if you wish to participate in the prize giveaway which takes place throughout Rusty's show, you'll have to bring a new toy or a non-perishable food item to receive a draw prize ticket. This family restaurant's kitchen will be open for those who wish a late dinner or munchies. Show time is 9:30pm.
Rusty performs New Year's Eve at the Knights of Columbus. Tickets are $20.00 per person, available at the club. You get a lasagna meal, party favours, midnight bubbly and great entertainment.
From the opening track, Pump, an upbeat instrumental which has a fast rhythm and an explosive melodic line, I was impressed with the use of various underlying beat patterns and tempos. This one even had a segment of Flight of the Bumble Bee. His sound engineer encouraged Rusty to use his own voice on songs like Time, which has an Eagles' Flavour, rather than try to copy another singer's voice. His voice really captures the mood on this beautiful ballad. The Way I Live has a squeeze box sound in the background and it is receiving frequent play on the local radio stations. I Remember, with a funky beat, number 6 on the Cd has received radio play all over Ontario. Further sound explorations come when we hear Secrets, which employs a pan flute and captures an ethnic Indian effect with the use of a hand drum. The rest of the album continues to be diversified in the arrangements. His live performance showed even more versatility on covers of such artists as Garth Brooks, Roy Orbinson, Buddy Holly, Ray Price, Patsy Cline, Elvis, Bon Jovi, Chuck Berry, Mannford Mann and more. His background accompaniment is usually created from scratch and I was taken, particularly, with his arrangements of Blood, Sweat and Tear's Spinning Wheel.
Rusty comes from a family of musicians and grew up in Whitby Ontario. His father, who never took a lesson, could play an excellent honky tonk piano and his brother Larry, was a sought after professional drummer who influenced Rusty during his younger years. In his youth, Rusty had the occasion to play sax in the Whitby Brass band and also drums and percussion with the Humber stage band. Sitting in on the drum kit during a music festival in Uxbridge, Rusty had the privilege of meeting Lawrence Gowan who was also performing with Ronnie Hawkins.
He likes to recall touring with his Grand Funk tribute trio and being out in the middle of nowhere just outside of Saskatoon, when his bass player decided to call it quits and head for home. When luck would have it, that a phenomenal player, Brian McLeod just happened to be on the scene and he knew all the material. That very first night it was discovered that Brain was equally proficient on guitar and drums as well. It must have confused the crowd when, for each of the three sets, the musicians came out playing different instruments. This trio made it to the coast and then back to Ontario. Brian went on to join Billy Henderson in Chilliwack and co wrote a strings of hits like California Girl, Gone Gone Gone my girl, Watcha Gonna Do and many more.
Back home Rusty joined the work force and became an agent for Prudential, when shortly after taking a position with that company, he received a call from the Durham Regional Police Service to which he served for over 11 years. During this time he had the privilege of performing with fellow officers in bands like the Coppertones, Shades of Blue and Badge at many charitable functions.
Eventually leaving the force to become involved in Health & Wellness and to also return to his roots in music, he had the chance to fill in on guitar with the Ian Thomas band and intermingled with many other great Canadian musicians like Kim Mitchell, Jeff Healey, Tom Cochrane, Frank Woodcock etc...
After moving to Brantford four years ago, Rusty has been supporting a variety of charitable organizations including ALS, playing at the Creamery for Music Fest and Can Jam for Cancer at the Knights of Columbus. More recently, he has been supporting Stop Bullying Today and tonight you can hear him at the newest venue in town, The Oxford Circus, promoting, with the management, The Food & Toy Drive. There's no cost to attend, but if you wish to participate in the prize giveaway which takes place throughout Rusty's show, you'll have to bring a new toy or a non-perishable food item to receive a draw prize ticket. This family restaurant's kitchen will be open for those who wish a late dinner or munchies. Show time is 9:30pm.
Rusty performs New Year's Eve at the Knights of Columbus. Tickets are $20.00 per person, available at the club. You get a lasagna meal, party favours, midnight bubbly and great entertainment.
