James Otto

Born at Fort Lewis Army Base in Washington to a military family, country singer-songwriter James Otto spent his childhood relocating across the United States with extended periods in North Dakota and Alabama. Vocal expression began for him at age four; he later studied violin and saxophone, then received his first guitar at thirteen. Although his father and grandfather performed part-time in neighborhood bars, Otto’s deeper connection to country music formed only after time spent with his mother in Sand Mountain, Alabama. Following high-school graduation he completed a two-year enlistment in the U.S. Navy, then settled in Nashville in 1998. There he frequented songwriters’ nights and aligned himself with the MuzikMafia circle that included Big & Rich and Gretchen Wilson—the same collective later featured as the focus of the CMT series MuzikMafia TV. The resulting exposure produced a Mercury Nashville contract, several singles, and the 2002 album Days of Our Lives, all before the label dropped him in 2004. A brief appearance in Road House 2 preceded his signing with Raybaw Records, a Warner Bros. imprint, and the 2008 release of Sunset Man, produced by his brother-in-law Jay DeMarcus of Rascal Flatts. That album yielded the chart-topping single “Just Got Started Lovin’ You,” raised his profile, and led to co-writing credits that included Jamey Johnson’s “In Color,” named Song of the Year at the 2008 Academy of Country Music Awards. Otto’s third album, Shake What God Gave Ya, appeared in fall 2010. After parting ways with Warner he remained out of the spotlight for five years while accumulating songs, returning in 2015 with the self-released single “Somewhere Tonight.”