Born on the Fort Lewis Army Base in Washington state, James Otto's musical odyssey began when he started singing at age 4. The natural musician played violin briefly and spent five years playing saxophone, but what he really wanted was a guitar. When Otto went to live with his father at the age of 13, he got one.

"My father showed me G, C and D," says Otto, "and the next day, I was playing along with Van Halen. From that moment, it's been a hunger, wanting to be as good as I could be."

But Van Halen wasn't the only group Otto was drawn to. He also loved the country rock of Hank Williams Jr. and Alabama and the outlaw music of Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings. In high school, Otto heard the rocking blues of Travis Tritt and the Kentucky Headhunters, and the strapping football player decided he'd turn in his uniform and make music his focus.

After high school, Otto found work in the Northwest and later joined the Navy for two years. He was following in the military footsteps of his grandfather and his father (an Airborne Ranger), who is still an Army drill sergeant. Following his military duty, Otto started playing full time in bands all over the Northwest. It was an honest living, but the singer-songwriter grew tired of playing cover songs and being background music in noisy bars. He sold almost everything he owned and moved to Nashville in 1998.

When he arrived, he attended every writer's night he could find and was overwhelmed by the talented songwriters he heard. "Those writers shaped me," he says. "By watching them, I figured out how they mesmerize a crowd with their words and the way they deliver a song. That changed me from being a club singer that does covers and tries to write on the weekend to someone who really strives to create their own art."

Band Members

James Otto

Website

http://www.jamesotto.net