River James to perform at Grindstone Public House Saturday
River James admits he has had one too many shots of whiskey, too many times, in too many bars, surrounded by women, while wishing for the one who got away.
That’s the inspiration behind “Ballad of a Drinkin’ Man,” the first single to be released from the Noblesville-based singer’s upcoming album, due out in 2022.
“I won’t remember their names, to me they’re all the same,” he sings. “I just keep lookin’ around, but I always see her face…”
“I used to be pretty wild,” he said. “Now I can look back and reflect on my old experiences. I’m not that way anymore, but I think a lot of people can relate to it.”
Click here to listen to “Ballad of a Drinkin’ Man.”
James will celebrate the release of his song with a performance this Saturday at Grindstone Public House in Noblesville. Joining him will be harmonica player Pat Long.
Born James Will Watson in rural Northeast Texas, the country singer/songwriter came to be called “River,” thanks to a woman he met in a bar.
“I was slurring my words,” he said. “When I introduced myself, this girl thought I said ‘River,’ and my buddies thought it cool, so it just kind of stuck.”
As a boy, James lived on a small ranch. At age 5, the music bug bit when he heard his grandpa playing an Elvis Presley record.
“I was hooked,” he said. “At Christmas, I would get up and sing a couple of his songs. I slicked my hair back and my mom made me a jumpsuit. Once, on Halloween, I went trick-or-treating, dressed as Elvis, riding my horse parading down the road.”
Other musical influences included Fats Domino, Jerry Lee Lewis and other old-time rock and rollers, as well as country legends like Waylon Jennings and Patsy Cline. It wasn’t until age 18, however, that River learned to play the guitar from his “Uncle” Dave Horn.
“He was my aunt’s boyfriend, but I called him uncle and he called me Little William,” James said. “He was in a little, local band. One day he invited us to his house for a barbecue. He had all these guitars around his place. He heard me singing and he asked if I played guitar. I said no, and he said, ‘Come over here tomorrow and I’ll start teaching you.’ I went over there every day for six months and played five or six hours, till about 2:00 in the morning.”
At 22, James moved to Springfield, Mo., with a girlfriend. Unfortunately, the relationship ended, but that’s when his musical career began, with his first public performances in a local bar.
“The first bar I ever played at was a little hole in the wall,” he said. “It was an open-mic night. There were only five people there. I was so terrified that I chugged two pitchers of beer and ended up passing out in the bathroom. The owner woke me up when he knocked on the stall door and said, ‘You know you can’t sleep here.’ I kept going back there every Sunday till I got the hang of it.”
James eventually made his way to Noblesville, where a “friend of a friend” offered him a job. Through the years, he has made ends meet at various times as a ranch hand, painting houses and loading trees into trucks, all the while writing songs and performing at night.
“Ballad of a Drinkin’ Man” is available on Spotify and other digital platforms.
Information about River James is available on Facebook.