Influenced by 1970s folk legends like James Taylor and Carole King, U.K. singer/songwriter James Bay has been playing music since he was 14. Hailing from the small English town of Hitchin, the now 22-year-old has spent the last few years doing local gigs in and around London. “Somebody sent me a video of him playing the song ‘Move Together,'” says Ben Adelson, senior director of A&R at Republic Records. “I brought him in and it was one of the best showcases I’ve ever seen. It was very easy to understand who he could be, who he could become and who he was already.” Bay signed with Republic in February, and in June he released “Move Together” as his first single. His debut EP, which arrived July 22, features five tracks that act as a sort of stripped-down introduction. “I called it ‘The Dark of the Morning,’ because it represents the beginning for me,” Bay says. He has recently opened for Rae Morris in the United Kingdom and toured stateside with Beth Orton. In September he is set for a tour with ZZ Ward that will bring him back to the United States. The artist is also working on a full-length album that’s still vocally focused but less stripped down. “At this point my influences are folk and soul,” Bay says, “but I am all about plugging in, turning it up, getting a band behind me and just playing loud. So that is still to come.”
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-Gabrielle Sierra