Album Notes

Massachusetts native, James Nihan, began writing songs at fourteen. His first influences were Tom Rush, John Prine, Gordon Lightfoot and James Taylor. He began performing at nineteen, appearing throughout New England before spending several years entertaining in Texas, Arizona and California. In 1987 he moved to Nashville to continue a career in songwriting and, in 1990, he was voted "Songwriter Of The Year" by the Tennessee Songwriters Association.

Among his many songwriter credits is "I Can See Arkansas," released by Anne Murray and becoming a Top 10 single in Canada. The song has also been recorded by Steve Wariner (Country), Larry Stephenson (Bluegrass) and Ninjaman (Reggae). James' songs have been performed on many television programs including Austin City Limits, Nashville Now and The Regis Philbin Show. He is also active as a screenwriter, poet, novelist and artist.

James' new CD, "Rays Of Light," was released August, 2003. It is a collection of positive, transformational songs inspired by Toltec and Native American wisdom and incorporates several alternative instruments including djembe, cello, Native American flute and steel drum.

Lyric sample from "I Can See Arkansas"
IF IT PROVED HOW MUCH I LOVE YOU
I'D SWIM THIS OL' RIVER TONIGHT
I'D BET MY SOUL AGAINST THE UNDERTOW
FOR THE CHANCE TO HOLD YOU TIGHT
BUT THERE'S MORE THAN A RIVER BETWEEN US
AND I CAN'T SWIM THAT FAR
AND AS HARD AS I TRY I JUST CAN'T DROWN
THE MEMORIES OF WHERE YOU ARE
OH, I CAN SEE ARKANSAS

Lyric sample from "It's Only Natural":
IT'S ONLY NATURAL
THE STARS WOULD FILL MY EYES
THEY KNEW YOU WERE THE ONE
THE MOMENT YOU WALKED BY
JUST LIKE THE PETALS OF A ROSE
THEY OPENED AND THEY'LL NEVER CLOSE
AGAIN, IT'S ONLY NATURAL

Lyric sample from "Waiting For Dawn":
DAWN BROKE THROUGH THE CLOUDS AROUND ME
LIKE A RAY OF LIGHT SHE FOUND ME
WHEN ALL HOPE OF LOVE WAS GONE
MY HEART WAS FOREVER HESITATING
NOW I KNOW IT WAS WAITING
FOR DAWN

Two very special reviews:

In Performing Songwriter magazine, Neil Fagan wrote:
It's been said that rock and roll is all about Saturday night and that country music is Saturday night and Sunday morning, too. That being the case, James Nihan is the lonesome preacher caught between the two. Nihan is a Nashville transplant who found success early on in his career with the song "I Can See Arkansas." It was recorded by both Steve Wariner and Anne Murray and Nihan's version is one of the eleven songs presented here. With a voice thick as molasses, Nihan tells the tales of the lover, the loser and the lucky survivor.

He shows his way with a phrase on the lead-off track, "We Were There." "Sun in the sky like a big copper ladle, pouring honey down the river bank" is how he describes a lover's paradise. The title song is the true story (according to his liner notes) of a Mississippi farmer confronting his wife and her lover in a roadside tavern. Kinda like "Lucille" with gunfire. A postcard from a friend's father's war buddy is the inspiration behind "Brothers Of The Wind."

Nihan lets his sense of humor shine on the rib-tickling "Shotgun Divorce," where-in an innocent stop for gas almost finds him betrothed. The ghost of Marty Robbins haunts "The Bells Of Santa Rosa." The CD closes with the love-gone-right song, "It's Only Natural," a fitting, final sparkle to Nihan's Mirror Boxes And Diamond Rings.

Jean Pumphrey, Founding Director of the Poetry Center, San Mateo, CA, wrote:

In the songs of James Nihan we enter a world of artistry in which words seem painted as much as sung: "I think of that sun like a big copper ladle pouring honey down the river bank, and that old canoe, rocking like a cradle, so full of love it almost sank." Lines such as these and the more somber lyrics of "The Bells Of Santa Rosa," mirror in nature a full spectrum of human passion; the joy and anguish of love's longing: "There were chili peppers hanging in the sun outside our door, But as luck would have it the rain began to pour." Here is a poet's voice painting in sound and image a portrait of where love lives; a passionate journey into the anguish and ecstasy of the human heart.

Lyric sample from "You Can Keep Your Distance":
I KNOW THAT YOU CARRY SCARS
FROM WHAT LOVE'S DONE TO YOU
YOU NO LONGER WISH ON STARS
YOU DON'T THINK DREAMS COME TRUE
I THOUGHT IF I GAVE YOU TIME
YOU'D LEARN TO TRUST AGAIN
YOU'RE STILL NOT SHOWING ANY SIGN
YOU'LL EVER LET ME IN

Lyric sample from "We Were There":
BY THE WATER'S EDGE
I FOUND A GREAT BLUE HERON'S FEATHER
AND I PUT IT IN YOUR RAVEN HAIR
AND IN THE DAPPLED SUNLIGHT
WE LAY DOWN TOGETHER
HOLDING EACH OTHER LIKE HANDS IN PRAYER
WITHOUT A CARE
FOR WHAT LAY UP AROUND THE BEND
WE DIDN'T HAVE TO TRY
TO FIND THAT RAINBOW'S END
WE WERE THERE

(Don't forget to check out the new CD "Rays of Light")