James Sasser. Portland musician,
entertainer, recording artist.
Alt Country Rock Americana
James Sasser

(e.g., "New York guitar player" or "Beatles influenced drummer")

Musician - rt2726

• Age 41 | Musician | Tolland, CT

I play guitar and (attempt to) sing. Vocals aren't very strong yet so in the recordings below you'll notice that I saturated them with reverb. I'm working on guitar and improving the vocals. For now the reverb seems to help make up for the lack of resonance. I practice regularly and I'm seeing some improvement but it takes time. I love music but I work full time, take classes and I have a family so I can't dedicate as much time to it as I'd like.

I've been playing mostly classic and some southern rock but I really like to fool around with other styles. I love rock, reggae, punk, ska etc. I finally picked up a decent bass so I'm going to some add bass lines to the recordings below. I really love bass but I'm not very good at it. I need a lot more time to practice!!!

Lead Vocals, Guitar, Drum Machine, Bass Guitar,
Backup Vocals

Ska, Rock n Roll, Rock, Reggae,
Punk, Popular, Light Rock, Indie,
Classic Rock, Blues, Alternative, Acoustic,
Southern Rock

Steel Drum, Saxophone, Sampler, Percussion,
Lead Vocals, Keyboard, Harmonica, Guitar,
Drum Machine, Drum Kit, DJ Turntables, Bass Guitar,
Backup Vocals, Upright Bass

Southern Rock, Ska, Rock n Roll, Rock,
Reggae, Punk, Progressive Rock, Popular,
Light Rock, Jam Band, Indie, Funk,
Experimental, Classic Rock, Blues, Alternative

I grew up learning a bunch of Zeppelin and other similar riff based rock. I also like Sublime and lately I've been listening to a band called Pepper. They remind me of Sublime. Oh yea, Ballyhoo is another new band I like.

• Played when I was young but I put it down for quite a few years to focus on other things (family, career etc). I've been playing actively again for the past three years or so. I'm no expert but I can play most songs without much. Most of the songs I play are dirt easy anyway and that works for me!
  
  I've never really been in a gigging band. I've sat in with a band at a small bar and played at some parties when I was younger. I'm pushin' 40 now so gigging really isn't that important to me I'm happy just jamming with other musicians for fun although it would be nice to play out a few times per year.

• Less stress from work and more time to play music!
  
  Life really is a balancing act... I jam with other people every chance I get but I would also love to find someone local to practice with on a somewhat regular basis. Even if it's just here and there for an hour or two at a time. For me, that's the best way to practice. I use a drum machine at home which allows me to practice at reasonable volume. Sometimes I play along with backing tracks too but I really like the exchange of energy and ideas that comes from playing with one or more people in a 'live' situation.

• Smokes: Nope
  
• Drinks: Some
  
• Tolerates Smoking: Don't Care
  
• Tolerates Drinking: Don't Care