Via Community News Service, a University of Vermont internship, for the Mountain Times
FAIR HAVEN — James Wolfe, a singer-songwriter from Fair Haven, frequents Rutland County restaurants and events with his guitar and country-folk tunes. Outside of performing, he works for CCV-Rutland as coordinator of student advising for secondary education initiatives.
Q. How did your love of music begin?
A. My move from Texas to Connecticut in middle school is what spurred my interest in music. I didn’t know anybody, so my outlet was music. My mom was a radio DJ, and she had a ton of CDs. I listened to all those, and when I was done, I would go to the public library and rent out CDs from there, to the point where I listened to every CD that they had.
I had first picked up a guitar when I was in fifth grade, and my mom sent me to lessons very briefly, but nothing came of it. But when I moved, I still had my guitar. I knew the basics from the lessons, how to press the strings and stuff, but I started kinda learning by myself from there, and trying to get better, and better, and better.
Q. How did you get into performing locally?
A. When I was a freshman at Castleton University, I said it’d be so cool to meet other people and play music and do jam sessions. I never really actually found that group of people, but the Campus Activities Board would do events, and they were hosting Open Mic Nights (that I performed in). At the time, they were run by one of the professors, Robert Wuagneux. He was playing at the farmer’s market at the Texaco Lot in Castleton during the summer, and he connected me with the person running it. I did that a few times, and then a gentleman from the Blue Cat walked over.
I guess he heard me playing and said, “Would you ever play in a restaurant? How much do you charge?” I said, “I don’t know. I’ve never done it before, but I would.” So he let me play at the Blue Cat. Then Third Place Pizzeria came alive, and I started playing there probably like once a month, and now I play there almost every Thursday.
Q. Where and how often do you play now?
A. Third Place Pizzeria is the place I play at the most. I’ve played at The Bomoseen Dog, Scotch Hill Brewery, the Blue Cat, Poultney’s Farm to Table events, and the Lake House. Those are all the places around here, but I’ve also played at Pizza Chef in Windsor, Vermont, and then just one-off things, too. I play every Thursday, and then here or there, I do a Friday or Saturday, so five or six gigs a month.
Q. Take me back to your first performance. What was that like?
A. The first time I remember singing in public was at a church in Waller, Texas, and they had a program that was called the Fourth Sunday Singing. Every time there were four Sundays in a month, they would get together in the afternoon and sing hymns and spirituals. I sang “Will the Circle Be Unbroken” on a piano.
At the time, I was nervous because I didn’t really know piano, but afterwards people came up to me, especially the older folks from the congregation, and they said, “We haven’t heard that song since we were kids,” so that was fun. When I came and started playing at the farmer’s market, I only had my guitar and a tiny, 15-watt amp. It was not powerful at all. People would stop by and talk and say how much they enjoyed my songs. I think that gave me the confidence to keep doing it.
Q. What are the best and most challenging parts of being a local musician?
A. The best is just getting to meet people and having the regulars and people that come in that are supportive and kind. They probably show up to the restaurant because they’re hungry but it’s nice whenever they interact and they’re singing songs or come up and request something. I love that part of it. The actual booking process was hard at first, just figuring out how each restaurant and venue works. The more technical things like scheduling, getting the word out there, and promotion, but it comes with the territory.
Q. How are your performances different from a couple of years ago compared to now?
A. I think I can sing better and play better now than I did when I started, and that’s not always from sitting in my room and practicing, but just having that live setting to be able to play music and figure out what songs work for me. I never show up with a set list. I have folders full of songs, and most of the time, if someone requests a song, I have it in that folder, because I’ve gotten to know what people like. If not, I just look it up on my phone in the moment. I’ve gotten a lot more confident in doing those types of things, too. Those impromptu, come up and do requests.
Q. How would you describe your music style? Who or what inspires you?
A. I consider myself, above everything else, a folk musician with country elements. I play songs that mean things to people, or I play songs for fun, or I play songs to say something, or to tell a story. My favorite artist, and I’ve said this pretty much all my life, has been George Strait. I just love how he combines popular country with a classical sound. I love what I would classify as Texas singer-songwriters; those are probably the people I idolize the most.
Probably one of my favorite vocalists of all time is Nanci Griffith, but I love Robert Earl Keen, and James McMurtry, can’t leave out Townes Van Zandt. Willie Nelson, you can throw him into the mix. People who are focused on the art more so than commercial success. There are still new people that influence me, too. Right now, I love Maggie Rogers. Stella Lefty is amazing.
Q. What’s your favorite original song to play and cover?
A. I’ve been loving playing my song “Dream About You.” It was inspired by a conversation I had with my grandma. We were talking about loved ones who have passed, and what does it mean when you dream about them. She had said, at least for people in our lives that are still living, that her grandmother used to tell her that if you dream of somebody, it’s because they thought of you before they went to bed. I go, “That’s gotta be a song,” so I turned it into a love song.
My favorite song to cover is currently George Strait’s “Check Yes or No.” That’s always just a classic go-to. When I hit the first few chords, people know it immediately. The other song is a song that I started playing when I was in college and is kind of what got people interested in listening to me. It’s a song by Rae Wylie Hubbard called “Snake Farm.” It’s a stupid song, but it’s catchy and gets stuck in your head for months on end.