James Asher has had a long and varied career in the music business--his first single was produced by Pete Townsend in 1979, and he went on to return the favor by playing drums on Pete's Empty Glass album. After writing and recording 23 albums of library music, as well as gaining a clutch of production credits, he has gone on to explore the wider horizons of world music, releasing a series of very well received albums.

Although James started his professional career as a drummer, he now considers keyboards his main instrument, albeit from a highly rhythmic standpoint. "I started learning violin when I was seven, and experimented with keyboards when I was 12. I always had a sense of self-expression on keyboard that I never had on violin, because nobody really taught me anything on keyboards, so it was wide open to interpretation. Playing drums has made me very rhythmically oriented. I always build things up from rhythm--that's my starting point."

James writes now in two distinct commercial styles. One is World Beat, and his timeless album Feet in the Soil is a good example of this. It's a mixture of didgeridoos, hand percussion, djembe, flute, cello etc. He is currently working on an East Indian-inspired percussive project, and is very much looking forward to working with the two people who will be pivotal to it, Sumeet Chopra and Johnny Kalsi.

     

Stay Tuned, Next Month's Featured Artist: Kavi