James McCartney tells Jade Wright why he feels at home in Liverpool
FIFTY years after his dad made a Liverpool cellar one of the most famous music venues in the world, another James McCartney will be playing The Cavern on Mathew Street.
Of course, a few things have changed. The Cavern has been demolished and rebuilt, and the McCartney on the stage is not one of The Beatles, but his only son, also James.
Named after both his grandfather Jim McCartney and his dad, James Paul McCartney, the James McCartney who plays at The Cavern tonight has an eye on the future, as well as an awareness of the musical heritage he is a part of.
“It’s cool to think I’ll get to play where my dad played, well all the Beatles played, all those years ago,” says James, 34.“When my manager booked the tour I knew I wanted to play Liverpool. I have a lot of family there. I always say I’m half Liverpudlian, half American. I like to think I have a tiny bit of an accent.“I enjoyed playing the 02 Academy in 2010, and The Cavern seemed like the next step.
“I’d met (Cavern director) Bill Heckle in a restaurant once and he gave me his card. I’m looking forward to playing in such an iconic venue.”
James is touring to promote his first physical release, The Complete EP Collection.
The two-disc set, produced by David Kahne and Paul McCartney, includes James' debut EPs, originally only released digitally, along with an additional EP of five new tracks, partly recorded at Abbey Road.
“It’s an exciting thing to look at a physical copy of something that’s only existed digitally before,” says James. “The fans asked for it. They wanted something they could hold onto, so we did it. I’m glad we did.”Nowadays many music fans only buy and listen to their music digitally.
“I listen mostly on my computer or on my iPod,” explains James.
“I have a record player in the garage. I want to get it out and start playing more vinyl.“But there is an iPad app that Neil Young showed me where you can make digital tracks sound like vinyl.”
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