At 28 years old, with a mop of brown curls and an easy,
welcoming smile, B Willing (Brendan Willing James) couldn't be happier. He's performed with Blondie, Little Feat, Snow
Patrol and Edwin McCain, and built a professional
recording studio to produce "MAYDAY!" with his band Shades
of Day, their first full length album released in May
2006. It's not all hard rock all the time however... He's
a regular acoustic performer, often tucked away in a small
coffee house or cafe strumming that willing guitar and
telling it how it is.
"B Willing is part name and part statement. It both
defines me and identifies me. Growing up, I've been
called 'B' by both friends and strangers, so why not just
'B'? Just B Willing..."
"I follow and chase the song, and most times find myself
in these real world fantasies with no easy way out. The
challenges of life give me purpose, and being a performing songwriter was the only way..."
While the band is performing regularly and doing very
well, Brendan loves to play acoustic shows where it's
just him, his guitar, and you.
"There's an intimacy to small, acoustic shows that really
speaks to me. Improvise, experiment, and just put
the song out there. It feels so organic.. "
Brendan's often compared to other great vocalists and songwriters, and loves the comparisons.
"It's just amazing when someone from the crowd says you sound like Glen Phillips, or you remind me of Chris Cornell, or Jeff Tweedy... I learned from these guys. It's an honor. Most folks lately say I sound most like Ryan Adams. I don't hear it, but people seem to dig him."
Brendan spent the first part of 2007 on a solo songwriting
mission across the United States. Truck, guitar, boots, camera, clothes for three days and a bottle of whisky. He was in the South for a month, spending time in Austin, Baton
Rouge, Atlanta and Charleston SC before heading up through Boston, New York and Niagara Falls.
Heading south again, he rocked downtown Cincinnati and did
some pickin' in Kentucky before setting up camp in
Nashville for the final month.
"The story behind these songs just amazes me. It's such a soap opera. I'm sitting in a Nashville recording studio looking through the glass at my engineer, who just so happens to be my girlfriend of 3 years that I'm so sure I can't stay with, and she's the only one there listening. So I lay down the most tormented, emotional tracks before going home to a night of crying, yelling, and sleeplessness only to wake up in the morning, get a cup of coffee and do it again. This is the heaviest, most beautiful music I've ever made."
This album tells the story about a man of passion, his quest, his band, and how success and happiness is found in the process of learning, growing, and most of all...sacrifice."
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