Gavin James

Gavin James, an Irish singer-songwriter whose sincere and approachable manner defines his work, first surfaced in 2012 with his debut EP and promptly secured a contract with Capitol Records. His next studio album, Only Ticket Home, arrived in 2018 and reached number two on the Irish albums chart.

He began studying guitar at age eight and started playing live shows regularly once he reached his late teens. The Say Hello EP became his first release in 2012, quickly spreading online throughout Ireland, while its title track earned Song of the Year honors at the Meteor Choice Music Prize.

In 2014 Capitol issued the live album Live at Whelans, recorded with James alone and accompanied only by acoustic guitar. The set entered the charts in the Netherlands and reached Ireland’s Top 20.

He made an appearance on the U.S. program Dancing with the Stars in spring 2015 and released the four-track EP For You the same season. Later that year he opened concerts for Ed Sheeran and Sam Smith on their respective tours and issued singles such as “Bitter Pill,” drawn from his first full-length studio album.

Bitter Pill came out in March 2016, essentially serving as a studio counterpart to Live at Whelans with two additional songs. It peaked inside the Irish Top Five and registered on the Americana/Folk Albums chart in the United States.

Early in 2017 a Danny Avila remix of “I Don’t Know Why” became a charting single in Ireland. Weeks afterward, James supplied the featured vocal on Alan Walker’s “Tired,” which entered charts in several European countries and appeared on U.S. dance listings.

His second studio album, Only Ticket Home, followed in 2018 and marked his highest-charting release to date by debuting at number two in Ireland. The holiday EP Winter Songs appeared in 2019, with the EP Boxes arriving the next year.