"It is rare these days to see young blues musicians come along who have the kind of vision and commitments to play this music and make a go of it like these guys are. I am impressed by their talents and their humility..."
Blake (Hollywood Blue Flames)

"Vyasa really is a triple threat: guitar player, singer and songwriter. No doubt he is one hell of a guitar player, but it is his singing on this that really knocks me out." Junior Watson

"The Portland, Oregon, group has that West Coast Swing sound down pat, performing tight numbers with original songwriting...There are no wasted notes and the music breathes with the palm trees."Blues Wax

Samuel James is a performer of stunningly singular talent. A master of fingerstyle, slide, banjo, harmonica, and piano, this phenom is not yet out of his twenties. With musical influences ranging from Skip James and Sonny Terry to Gus Cannon and Charley Patton, such understanding of pre-war blues is rarely embodied in the music of one person.

But Samuel James is not a revivalist. His songwriting is absolutely unparalleled in contemporary blues. His writing is descended from the long forgotten art of the songster. While musically one could compare him to Patton or Cannon, his writing goes in another direction entirely. His songs are often written as linear stories, novels in musical format: O. Henry meets Mose Allison.
Live, Samuel James includes some older material in his set, and when playing a song created by a previous blues master he truly makes it his own. His stamp of originality is evident in every song he picks. Clearly the historical torch is being passed to him from today’s elder masters and yesterday’s originators. Does that make him authentic? Let the listener decide if that is even the question. Samuel James is the most relevant young blues artist to come our way in quite some time.
http://www.myspace.com/sugarsmallhouse