The C2C Sit Down with Noah James
Hailing from Prairieville down in the bayou of Louisiana, Noah James may still be in his teens but of the last couple of years has gained a rapidly growing and dedicated fanbase through TikTok. Having gained multi-million views and likes of both his own music and numerous covers particularly of Zach Bryan which recently saw him release his own version of ‘Pink Skies’ to much acclaim and has helped him be able to look forward to a first trip across the pond to perform in Europe at C2C: Country to Country in Berlin, Rotterdam and London next month. Ahead of his first trip overseas, we jumped on Zoom with Noah to learn more about him and look ahead to the festival.
Hey Noah, how you doing?
“I’m Good, how are you?”
I'm doing really good and you can hear me, so that's a result because everyone I’ve been speaking to seems to be having complete chaos with the snow and ice.
“Luckily, I'm in Louisiana, so we’ve been good.”
Fingers crossed, we’re not gonna have it cold here either when you head over never month. Are you excited to come over? Have you been over to Europe before?
“I've never been out the country so I’m super excited.”
So, you've had to get your passport for the first time then.
“Yep, I just did.”
Are you just coming to Berlin or are you going to do a bit of touristy stuff around Europe while you're here?
“I have 3 different cities, well countries. We're going to Berlin, then we're going to Rotterdam and then London.”
That’s amazing, so I’ll have plenty of chances to catch you. It must be a cool feeling to see that at this stage of your career that your music's allowing you to not just travel the world but get to play at the biggest festival in Europe.
“Oh, it's absolutely unbelievable. It's a dream come true for me and I never thought it would be this early in my career, you know, I thought maybe three years or five years from now, but it's absolutely unbelievable. I’m very grateful.”
What are you most excited about with playing the festival?
“I think the crowd's reaction, meeting people that actually know me and know my music as fans. Then just seeing all of these different and new places that my parents have been to and they told me are absolutely beautiful, so I'm excited.”
“I’m Good, how are you?”
I'm doing really good and you can hear me, so that's a result because everyone I’ve been speaking to seems to be having complete chaos with the snow and ice.
“Luckily, I'm in Louisiana, so we’ve been good.”
Fingers crossed, we’re not gonna have it cold here either when you head over never month. Are you excited to come over? Have you been over to Europe before?
“I've never been out the country so I’m super excited.”
So, you've had to get your passport for the first time then.
“Yep, I just did.”
Are you just coming to Berlin or are you going to do a bit of touristy stuff around Europe while you're here?
“I have 3 different cities, well countries. We're going to Berlin, then we're going to Rotterdam and then London.”
That’s amazing, so I’ll have plenty of chances to catch you. It must be a cool feeling to see that at this stage of your career that your music's allowing you to not just travel the world but get to play at the biggest festival in Europe.
“Oh, it's absolutely unbelievable. It's a dream come true for me and I never thought it would be this early in my career, you know, I thought maybe three years or five years from now, but it's absolutely unbelievable. I’m very grateful.”
What are you most excited about with playing the festival?
“I think the crowd's reaction, meeting people that actually know me and know my music as fans. Then just seeing all of these different and new places that my parents have been to and they told me are absolutely beautiful, so I'm excited.”
I guess one of the other cool things as well is that it’s a really good opportunity to showcase new original material for you as well.
“Oh, I definitely will be.”
What's the sort of plan and the goal in terms of stuff through the rest of the year with releasing music? Have you got a lot of songs in the can that you're looking to be spreading out and then potentially leading towards something extended? Or are you someone that writes as you go then all of a sudden, it’s like I really like that, let’s go with it?
“Kind of both, actually. Right now, I do have a lot of songs in the can, you know and I’m writing every day. I’m always writing and I love writing, but what I can say without giving away too much, my next single comes out on February 13th. It's called “Talk To Johnny” and then I have an EP coming out pretty soon following that. There's a good bit of good songs on there, well, I think they're all good and I'm really excited for them. They're all new and I've teased up here and there on social media but I'm excited for everybody to hear them and I'm gonna be playing on those at the shows.”
You said that you're writing constantly, when did you first pick up a guitar? Were you strumming away as a very young child and was that what you always wanted to do?
“When I was younger, I didn't even grow up in country music. I actually grew up more in pop but everyone in Louisiana and where I'm from listens to country you know? My dad was more into pop music, so that's kind of how I grew up, I grew up on Michael Jackson really. When I first started music and picked up the guitar for the first time, I kind of just started writing with it, which was like, probably three years ago, I want to say. I started writing and I started just in pop like Ed Sheeran, Justin Bieber and those kind of people. Then as I got more and more into Zach Bryan and Noah Kahan, I kind of started writing more country stuff and it just got better and better as I kept doing it. But yeah, I would say I started writing three years ago, probably the same time I picked up the guitar.”
You mentioned Zach and if you kind of go through your socials, you see you doing a lot of Zach Bryan covers, which I'm all for. I'm fully converted, I saw him twice last summer and before I went, I was like I don't get what all these kids on TikTok are obsessed with, I know he’s good but I don't get it but within ten minutes, I'm like, this man is the saviour of country music. How was I so wrong? I take it you have been to see him live as well.
“Yeah, I went to go see him last August. Actually, that was August of 2024 because we’re in the new year now but I'm actually going to see him again at the end of March.”
“Oh, I definitely will be.”
What's the sort of plan and the goal in terms of stuff through the rest of the year with releasing music? Have you got a lot of songs in the can that you're looking to be spreading out and then potentially leading towards something extended? Or are you someone that writes as you go then all of a sudden, it’s like I really like that, let’s go with it?
“Kind of both, actually. Right now, I do have a lot of songs in the can, you know and I’m writing every day. I’m always writing and I love writing, but what I can say without giving away too much, my next single comes out on February 13th. It's called “Talk To Johnny” and then I have an EP coming out pretty soon following that. There's a good bit of good songs on there, well, I think they're all good and I'm really excited for them. They're all new and I've teased up here and there on social media but I'm excited for everybody to hear them and I'm gonna be playing on those at the shows.”
You said that you're writing constantly, when did you first pick up a guitar? Were you strumming away as a very young child and was that what you always wanted to do?
“When I was younger, I didn't even grow up in country music. I actually grew up more in pop but everyone in Louisiana and where I'm from listens to country you know? My dad was more into pop music, so that's kind of how I grew up, I grew up on Michael Jackson really. When I first started music and picked up the guitar for the first time, I kind of just started writing with it, which was like, probably three years ago, I want to say. I started writing and I started just in pop like Ed Sheeran, Justin Bieber and those kind of people. Then as I got more and more into Zach Bryan and Noah Kahan, I kind of started writing more country stuff and it just got better and better as I kept doing it. But yeah, I would say I started writing three years ago, probably the same time I picked up the guitar.”
You mentioned Zach and if you kind of go through your socials, you see you doing a lot of Zach Bryan covers, which I'm all for. I'm fully converted, I saw him twice last summer and before I went, I was like I don't get what all these kids on TikTok are obsessed with, I know he’s good but I don't get it but within ten minutes, I'm like, this man is the saviour of country music. How was I so wrong? I take it you have been to see him live as well.
“Yeah, I went to go see him last August. Actually, that was August of 2024 because we’re in the new year now but I'm actually going to see him again at the end of March.”
Oh nice, we've got to wait until June before he's back in Europe again but you released your version of “Pink Skies” pretty recently. There’s a lot of depth to that song but what was it about that particularly for you? You've obviously done covers of so many Zach songs on your socials but why was that one that you wanted to record a version of and release it?
“I've covered that song a few times now. The first time I covered it, I sang it the way Zach sings it, which, me personally, I love but it didn't get that much traction though and I think it is because, you know, people already have that version. Then the second time I sang it, I sang it my way, I sang it a little bit different and it got six million views with eight hundred thousand and then the third time I sang it was thirty-three million views with four million likes. Every single time after that when I was singing it, it has gotten over a million views so all of the fans really loved my version of it and they all told me, you know, you have to release your own version, you have to cover it. Like you said, I’ve covered a lot of Zach Bryan's songs, but I guess people really love my version of that specific song the most.”
We’re looking forward to getting to see you do it live and will be great to meet you in person, so we'll definitely come and say hey in a couple of weeks and I appreciate you taking the time this morning.
“Sounds good, have a good one.”
Noah James will be appearing at C2C: Country to Country in Berlin over the weekend of March 6th to March 8th where you can further details on the festival WEBSITE or on INSTAGRAM & FACEBOOK. Noah will be releasing his new track ‘Talk To Johnny’ on February 13th which you can pre-save HERE and to keep up to date with all that he is up to ahead of the festival, you can follow him socially on INSTAGRAM TIKTOK & FACEBOOK.
“I've covered that song a few times now. The first time I covered it, I sang it the way Zach sings it, which, me personally, I love but it didn't get that much traction though and I think it is because, you know, people already have that version. Then the second time I sang it, I sang it my way, I sang it a little bit different and it got six million views with eight hundred thousand and then the third time I sang it was thirty-three million views with four million likes. Every single time after that when I was singing it, it has gotten over a million views so all of the fans really loved my version of it and they all told me, you know, you have to release your own version, you have to cover it. Like you said, I’ve covered a lot of Zach Bryan's songs, but I guess people really love my version of that specific song the most.”
We’re looking forward to getting to see you do it live and will be great to meet you in person, so we'll definitely come and say hey in a couple of weeks and I appreciate you taking the time this morning.
“Sounds good, have a good one.”
Noah James will be appearing at C2C: Country to Country in Berlin over the weekend of March 6th to March 8th where you can further details on the festival WEBSITE or on INSTAGRAM & FACEBOOK. Noah will be releasing his new track ‘Talk To Johnny’ on February 13th which you can pre-save HERE and to keep up to date with all that he is up to ahead of the festival, you can follow him socially on INSTAGRAM TIKTOK & FACEBOOK.
