About James Durham – Unembellished Version

Contrary to the embellished version of James Durham’s bio (found here), James was in fact born in a beautiful, normal, sunny town, and while his mother was (and is) indeed a wonderful, saintly person, she was, alas, not incarcerated in an insane asylum. However, the embellished version of James’ bio did not exaggerate his love of music, science fiction and fantasy. This is the far more accurate — if a little less dramatic — version of his bio.

Originally trained on the violin by a master violinist who owned a Stradivarius known as “The Rose,” James Durham’s early exposure to music included mainly classical influences such as Grieg and Schubert. With an ear tuned to melodic progressions, arpeggios and sweeping orchestral textures, James was fascinated by synthesizers the second he set eyes (and ears) on one. He purchased his first synthesizer as a young teenager, when he started composing his first songs.

James also developed a life-long love and passion for science fiction and fantasy, spending long nights (and days) in the worlds of everyone from Tolkien to Wolfe, from Bradshaw to Asimov, from Beagle to Bujold, from Herbert to Simmons, from Lewis to Le Guin, from Adams to Pratchett, and yes, even a little Lucas, and many others. His appetite for reading translated into a passion for storytelling and writing from an early age, including writing poetry and short stories, as well as collaborating on film and other media projects over the years. His first completed novel (one of several that have been in development for many years), FETIDUS: The Damned Heir, will be released in October 2008, in a serialized audiobook format with an original musical score.

While FETIDUS marks the first publicly released merging of James’ passion for storytelling and music composition, James’ other music spans a broad range of styles. He recorded, produced and/or collaborated with other artists on projects ranging from traditional jazz to alternative rock. His songwriting and producing have been widely praised and his first personal release of his own music took place in 2003 with Aeolian May: Port of Embarkation. James loves film/TV scoring as well, and continues other music productions and creative collaborations. Read more about some of James Durham’s music projects at www.jamesdurham.com.

Click here to read an alternate, “embellished” version of James Durham’s bio.

[ * Fiendishly awesome photo of James Durham on this page by the superlative Charles Butler of Free Flame Photography - Please check him out at www.freeflamephoto.com if you dare... ]