There's a Big deep Ocean
And you chased aways your fears
And dipped your toes
In white washed wave
You said "I'm not a fan of color,
But you're by my side, so I'm ok."

One day in June
I was by your side from sunrise to moon
From San Francisco
To Santa Cruz
One perfect day I spent with you

Our bright orange sun
Was falling down through the horizon line
and valley of San Jose
Standing on the side of Highway 9
We shared a kiss
Then drove away

One day in June
I was by your side from sunrise to moon
From San Francisco
To Santa Cruz
One perfect day I spent with you

You tried to sneak up on me
Every time I caught you catching glances
Then you'd kiss my neck
You knew just what to say to me
You have my heart to break or keep

One day in June
I was by your side from sunrise to moon
From San Francisco
To Santa Cruz
One perfect day I spent with you

June (Bird and The War)

We're gonna work this out again
You've got scarlet in your hands
Fallin' on your words
Like summer leaves
Fallin' from good graces
Time... time... time...
Is leaving roost tonight

Redemption comes at no fair cost
One side is always left alone to blame
Colours fade and we all fall
The fickle transience of autumn's shade

We're gonna work this out again
The brilliant arrangement 
Of broken veins and brittle branches
hold... hold... hold...
Nothing past or new

Redemption comes at no fair cost
One side is always left alone to blame
Colours fade and we all fall
The fickle transience of autumn's shade

We're gonna work this out again

Scarlet (Bird and The War)

My head is adobe
My heart is stained glass
As shards of shivering slivering slivers pass
In reckless halls of many a moon
In rumbling rhythm of maniac soon

In scarlet your shoe
In ribbon your hair
The pipe dream in grey
As we met on the stair
To exchange all the currency glances can give
And return to the tree
In the locked halls where we lived

No wings
No strings
No High
No sigh

Say the longest goodbye
In the tunnel of Love
The lories and liliths
Make way up above
The echoing yellow tile
Will declare
The next on is coming
With the blowing of air

No wings
No strings
No High
No sigh

Adobe (Bird and The War)

Spring is Gone
And she's coming home again
Summer is alone
A ticking clock
Is stealing all my plans
Where'd the time go?

We fought the night
'Til the day breaks

The sun is up
On skyline Boulevard
Summer is awake
Too long or not long enough
'Til the sun
Will set for us

We fought the night
'Til the day breaks

Summer (Bird and The War)

I recently ran sound at a summer camp and met a camper named Megan Green (Meggie K). I found out she could sing, so her and I wrote a song. We were crunched for time, so we kept it short and sweet.

The shade of a bluebird caught my eye
It made me think of the day you died

And building blanket forts at night
We'd laugh for hours 'til morning light

I brought these daisies here to rest
A shade of blue and sunday best

And when God laid you down to sleep
I prayed the Lord my soul to keep

Building Forts (Meggie K and Bird and The War)

2 years ago, my good friend Michael Medina (Adventure Book) asked me to record a couple of songs for him. I helped produce the songs themselves, coached him vocally, tracked, mixed, and played almost all of the instruments on this track. You can even hear me doing some bass vocals on the bridge. I was really happy with the sound we came out with.

Look out for the "oscar the grouch" style trash can at the end of the song. Everything in the song was done with real instruments except for the organ and overdubbed kick drum.

Virtual instruments done on Reason 3. The Kick was sampled from a Roland DDR-30.


Let me know what you think! :)

Moments To Feel Safe (Adventure Book)

2 years ago, my good friend Michael Medina (Adventure Book) asked me to record a couple of songs for him. I helped produce the songs themselves, coached him vocally, tracked, mixed, and played almost all of the instruments on this track.

Electric piano was a Micro Korg
Electric guitar was a Lyon guitar going through a 'NuAmp' and a Boss Blues Driver.
The Drums were a no name Japanese kit I bought for $80, all Sabian SR2 Cymbals (hi hat and ride) and mic'ed up with an Audix D6, an SM-57 on the Snare top, and 2 cheap vintage Yamaha dynamic mics in a Glyn Johns mic setup.

The "breaking" sound before the third movement of the song is a cup full of coins dropped into the lid of a metal trash can. we threw it on a concrete floor for effect.

Enjoy! Let me know what you think!

Memories (Adventure Book)

I was listening to a lot of Jose Gonzalez and Junip. was inspired to write something in the same vain.

Yellow Paint (Bird and The War)

My good friend and old bandmate, Peter Kistler, wrote some lyrics while he was riding a train through the Swiss Alps and sent them to me so I could put them to music. This was the result. we liked how rough, dirty and intimate it sounded.

We ride the winding iron snake
Through rock and tunnel dark
The metal screeches sending fireworks
ascending from the sparks

With many eyes
The creatures blink and watch
The sunny lands
To say and stare
To shout and scream and point
With many hands

As we ascend the giant's back
Improbably gaining speed
The tracks will cross and break
The wheels off at the peak
We fall into the cool green
Depths of mountain lakes
As bubbles rise from open mouths
On top of broken breaks

The Giant's Back (Bird and The War)

O Come O Come Emmanuel

I have other pages, but this one is meant to be a central page to showcase everything I like to do.

Recording, tracking, writing, producing, and creating in a lot of different genres.

I do play; private parties, public events, coffee shops, and wine bars. I write, play, and lead worship. I enjoy studio tracking, mixing, and recording as well as Live sound and live recording.I love to collaborate and write with lyricists and other musicians. I'm not closed to any genre.

My influences can range from Bon Iver, Iron and Wine, Junip, Skrillex, Dave Mathew's Band, Passion Pit, Postal Service, Boys to Men, Katy Perry, Hillsong United, Will Regan, and so many more.

If you want to Collaborate, Jam, Give advice, Trade tips and Ideas... anything! Hit me up and tell me what you think :)

ChrisJames-Music