Pianist, Singer, session player and recording artist. James Sayer, originally from Birmingham UK, hails from a musical family and began his fascination with music from a very young age. James began playing the pubs and clubs in England with his father, Phil, who is also a piano/vocalist. James learnt all things rock n roll from an early age discovering artists like Jerry Lee Lewis, Elton John and Billy Joel.
Although he studied classical piano, it was the Blues and Rock n Roll that really appealed to James. He went on to study Jazz on saxophone at Leeds College of Music before moving on to study Contemporary piano.
Upon graduating, James was awarded the Friends Prize for performance.
In 2012, James relocated to London, UK. He spent many nights playing pubs, clubs and piano bars, continuing to hone his craft as a live musician.
Once in London, James met American producer, Alan Glass, and they began working on James’ debut solo material.
Bernie Chiaravalle, guitarist and songwriting partner of Michael McDonald, quickly became involved in James’ music and played many of the guitar parts on James’ demos and soon became a big fan of his music.
‘Hearing James Sayer's music gives me faith that there are true singer/songwriter/musicians keeping the tradition of great songwriting and performing alive. I really love his music and I'm honored to be asked to play on his recordings. We're going to be hearing a lot from this great artist!’ - Bernie Chiaravalle.
It was in 2014 that ‘Ruen Brothers’ were looking for a keyboard/vocalist to join them on the road. James hit it off with the guys and joined the live outfit in September 2014.
In 2015, James went on a month long US tour with Ruen Brothers, during which time they supported George Ezra, played both weekends at Coachella music festival, and did a live recording session with legendary producer Rick Rubin.
James describes this as ‘one of the highlights of my career and a day I will never, ever forget’.
The session took place at Shangri La Studios, Malibu; a place that has had the likes of ‘The Band’, ‘Mick Jagger’, ‘Ed Sheeran’ and ‘Adele’ record hit albums.
2015 has been a big year for James, playing huge festivals with Ruen Brothers and has solo shows planned for the end of the year.
James currently plays the Yamaha CP4. On the CP4, James says…
‘I’d always wanted to find that piano sound that cuts through the band but also has the ability to sound beautiful for ballads. I’ve tried so many pianos and the CP4 really has it all.’
