Graeme James - Program

Graeme James

High School Series

nteresting Facts:

I

About Graeme James Born in New Zealand, Graeme James started out playing violin with the desire to become a classical concert violinist. He pursued this goal throughout high school as well as branching out into folk and Celtic music, playing fiddle and singing in his family’s folk band. During college he put down the violin and started learning other instruments, including the acoustic guitar.

In 2010, he bought a loop pedal, which would finally allow him to combine and layer the various instruments he had picked up along the way. He was soon playing nightly concerts. This created what would become a large, loyal and global fan base.

The self-released album Play One We All Know was released in 2013 followed by Play One We All Know Vol. II in late 2014. The latter was funded through a Kickstarter campaign that met its $5,000 target in 27 hours. Both cover albums have sold thousands of copies while Graeme has been busking on the streets of New Zealand.

Loop Pedal Graeme’s discovery of the loop pedal would finally allow him to combine and layer various instruments. Loop pedals – also known as looping stations or loopers – allow a single player to record an exact replica of their instrument within a given space of time to be played back with the tap of a foot. The first looping pedal is an enormous graduation step for any developing musician.

Interesting Facts:

Set List

1. How would you start a crowdfunding campaign? Which platform would you use? Describe your budget and end goals. ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ 2. Identify another artist or band whose musical style is similar to that of Graeme James. Explain what about the works of the artist or band makes it similar to that of Graeme James. ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ 3. How did social media initially influence the success of Graeme James? How does social media continue to influence his career? ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ 4. His original album, News from Nowhere, featured a collection of songs Graeme James wrote while touring New Zealand. The album features songs that are intensely visual in writing and sound. Describe what you visualized while listening to the songs during the concert. ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________

Created in partnership with

The Florida Center for Reading Research (FCRR) is a multidisciplinary research center at Florida State University. FCRR explores all aspects of reading research—basic research into literacy-related skills for typically developing readers and those who struggle, studies of effective prevention and intervention, and psychometric work on formative assessment.

S HA R E YOU R R ES P ON S E AN D FEEDBACK TO OPEN INGNIGH TS@FSU.EDU