Oshkosh Native Cody James Brings Pop Rock to Art*Bar
By Bryon Cherry
Oshkosh, Wisconsin pop/rock artist Cody James, has been making inroads into Milwaukee for a few years now. Tomorrow night, Friday October 14 at Art*Bar, James will bring his brand of melodic and energetic songwriting to Milwaukee once again. When asked what folks can expect, James says, “Peeps can expect a dude with long hair playing guitar and singing, ample flowage of beverages, and general good times… Show starts at 9pm!”
James recently released a single called “Everything In Me” which is a rhythmic shot of adrenaline accompanied by big hazy pop chorus that seems to have a way of sticking in the listener’s heads. “The song is about finding out who you are. Kind of a spiritual elevation. Going within to find your answers. Big picture stuff,” James says. The listener can feel all of that from the hypnotizing, vaguely Latin rhythms that the song employs as well as the direct heartfelt lyrics. James continues about the song, “I wrote it in the fall of 2018 as I was going through some tough times in life. It came together really quickly, which was weird because it was completely different from anything I’d written up to that point. I like it as a single because it has a really nice chorus and I think the overall flow of the song is nice.” The song is available on all streaming platforms now.
Besides the single, James has been on a bit of a roll lately. He recently announced that he is working with a label from England called The Animal Farm. “So, I got an offer from this label, The Animal Farm, earlier this year after I submitted some of my other music to them. Basically, we’re working together to release some singles over the next few months, starting with “Everything In Me”. It’s been pretty cool, not any major changes to what I’ve already been doing, just more structure and muscle behind it. Which is pretty much exactly what I needed. I’m lucky enough to be able to record at home, and so I finish the songs, send them the tracks to be mixed and mastered, and we formulate a release plan,” James says.
If you follow James on social media, you quickly find out that in addition to music he’s also really into Pokémon. When asked to describe his musical journey using Pokémon characters, James wasted no time diving into the question. “It’s equal parts the exciting lightning and thunder of Pikachu, the versatility to adapt and change like Eevee, and of course the fiery, epic triumph of Charizard.” The fiery, epic triumph of Charizard (whatever that is) seems to come through in his fiery and nimble guitar playing, so there’s that.
When asked what success means to him James says, “If you enjoy what you do and you do it often, it’s a success.” With that attitude and his seemingly, never-tiring work ethic, James seems primed to have good things happen for him in the future. In his world there are tours being planned and what looks like a succession of exciting music releases on the horizon. “Whoa yeah, all of those things! I have more music dropping with The Animal Farm, tons of shows coming up, and planning for a healthy amount of touring in 2023. Keep your boggles peeled and find me @real_cody_james (on Instagram),” James says.
