Album Notes

ELANA JAMES

"How rare it is to find such a talented and blessed person.
A beautiful voice , a fantastic musician, with the heart
and soul of an angel."

--Willie Nelson

“Her fiddle...evokes memories of the wizardry of Stephane Grappelli
and the magic of Johnny Gimble....Special, original, and a true
treasure. Listen."

--Fred FosterProducer, Founder, Monument Records


"Elana is one of the sexiest, most talented musicians. Her style
hints of another era...taking you places you thought were
unreachable by today's standards. And yet, here she is..."

-Raul Malo, The Mavericks


"[Elana's] throaty violin solos arrived in terse,
epigrammatic phrases with a sprint, every so often, into
chromatic harmony. She also sang in a breathy, un-self-conscious
voice that made every double-entendre seductive."

--Jon Pareles, New York Times

A driving force behind the globe-trotting hot jazz/Western swing trio HOT CLUB OF COWTOWN, Kansas-born violinist and singer ELANA JAMES is an internationally acclaimed performer who has been featured at countless major concerts and music festivals worldwide. After teaming up with Bob Dylan in 2005 as part of his touring band--the first female instrumentalist to do so in thirty years--Elana was honored to be the opening act for Bob Dylan's 2006 summer US tour and has resumed touring and recording with her own band, The Hot Club of Cowtown ("The Best of the Hot Club of Cowtown" the group's latest CD, is to be released August 19, 2008 by Shout!Factory).

Elana has been a regular guest on NPR's A Prairie Home Companion and has been a featured performer on numerous television and radio shows including WSM's Grand Ole Opry, NPR's All Things Considered, World Cafe, Mountain Stage, E-Town Live, and many others. In the UK she has appeared on Later With Jools Hollland, BBC Radio One and Radio Two and at numerous festivals including Glastonbury and the Cambridge Folk Festival. One of the youngest members ever to be inducted into the Texas Western Swing Hall of Fame, Elana makes her home in Austin, Texas.

Favorite artists: Bob Wills, Blossom Dearie, Hugh & Karl Farr, Hot Club of France, Joe Venuti & Eddie Lang, Stuff Smith, Johnny Gimble, Mildred Bailey.