Out the window cars roll over, the undone streets so quickly…

I should hate James Apollo. He’s younger than me, is effortlessly debonair and my girlfriend has the hots for him. But damnit Mabel, this guy is just too good to allow my petty jealousy get in the way.

Born in Libertyville, Arkansas Apollo fled the coop at 16 and has been riding the range ever since. A 49er with no mine, Apollo writes of heartbreak, loss and desolation and couches his words in vaudeville velvet. He takes aesthetics seriously, does James and his records have a fine hand crafted feel to them, which is also transferred to his live show. I first saw him play at the Ryman auditorium of Europe: Darvel Town Hall. As he took to the stage I was aware that something different and unique was afoot. Not only did Apollo and his band look different, like a prom group dragged through a hedge backwards, but they sounded different. (So different I don’t have a cheap and dirty analogy) It was very dramatic, even cinematic with Apollo switching between a normal mic and a retro style one full of feedback. He dipped, bobbed, weaved and stamped his way through the then current album ‘Good Grief’ I snagged a copy of said album that night and have been hooked ever since.

Good Grief is a nightmarish tumble through the America of Steinbeck and Fante. Harking back to the Civil War with ‘The Alamo’ and ‘All the Pretty’ Apollo shows he aint your normal hack. The follow up ‘Hide Your Heart In a Hive’ built and expanded on this splintered vision, check out the video for my favourite track, ‘Bad Old Buzzard’, below. He has recently released an EP ‘Angels we have grown apart’ and will be back this way in early October

I’d like to say Glasgow has been kind to James Apollo, but other than providing some interesting road tales, Scotland’s premier city has been a lonely furrow for our hero. I detect a change in the air though, and hopefully Apollo will see a difference on his forthcoming tour.