James Eugene Russell
For most of his twenties, Minnesota musician James Eugene Russell spent his days zigzagging the country playing in hard working punk bands. He then began exploring new sounds with his country rock outfit, Prairie Sons. After Prairie Sons disbanded, James spent over a decade absent from the music scene dealing with alcoholism, becoming a father, and finally finding sobriety.
The struggles of the past decade have shaped James into the introspective and mature singer/songwriter that he is today, making songs that shine stripped down solo and with a full band. Drawing from the venerable classic country music genre and his own punk rock narrative, James Eugene Russell melds all of his life experience into a sound that he describes as country midwestern.
"‘Fatherly Advice’ is a song that I wrote for my two daughters. It's a slightly humorous bit of advice for when they get a little older. I screwed up so many things and made a lot of bad decisions when I was younger. I hope they learn from their mistakes and not repeat them like I did. I am finally happy with where I'm at but I took the longer, rougher road to get here. There's definitely an easier path I hope they take.”
UPCOMING SHOWS
Thurs, March 16
Icehouse
w/ Cory Branan
Fri, April 21
'As/Is' vinyl release show
Turf Club
w/ Faith Boblett, Lamar
Eli Gardiner is a songwriter, photojournalist, and video creator. You can catch him playing shows all over the Midwest with his band or as a solo performer, and he also captures video and photography for local musicians and nonprofits. His passion is Storytelling through music and pictures.
