James Neathery

James Neathery is one of those extremely rare artists who makes music for all the right reasons. Not chasing fame or fortune, the U.S. Army Veteran is instead finding and sharing catharsis through sound. 

The California multi-instrumentalist explores the varied emotions from deployments, along with other life endeavors, through meticulously layered and orchestrated compositions that seamlessly shift through movements and styles to convey feeling. 

“A lot of those events have found their way into my music through the natural process of healing,” Neathery explained. “Because I only write instrumentals, I have to build a soundscape to convey what I’m feeling and hope that can be a catalyst to take listeners on their own journey.” 

Sequestered in his Vacaville home, progressive rock foundations are mixed with the likes of classical, metal, ambient, jazz, funk, blues and more. 

Neathery started learning piano from his grandmother at age six. In high school, he embraced the guitar and co-founded an original metal band Delayed Reaction, which gigged around the Bay Area for five years at the turn of the ‘90s. Years later, Neathery picked up the bass guitar and drums. 

But then came a storied Army career that included being struck by multiple IEDs in Afghanistan, resulting in lingering injuries. Although his almost 23-years of service put Neathery’s music on the backburner, it also inspired prolific and unusually heartfelt songwriting. 

While still in the service he self-recorded his “Under the Cover of Darkness” EP in 1999 and debut album “Into the Vast Nothing” six years later. After leaving the service, he released his first professionally mastered song to digital platforms in 2021. The strings-washed, slow-burning “Upon Letter A” went on to enjoy airplay in more than 60 countries. 

In July of 2022, he returned with a new single “Hemispheres,” a more metal-influenced affair than its exquisitely melancholic predecessor, inspired by trying to balance the creative and analytical halves of his brain while navigating the degrading effects of injury and time. 

“It has a centralized piano melody with a vibe of being chased,” he offered. “All the while, wrapped in harmonized guitars and a syncopated beat.” 

Deep into the recording of the full-length project, “A Mused Collection of Anecdotes,” a video for “Upon Letter A” is being created, and collaboration with a long-time friend and musician dating back to their high school days in Delayed Reaction is set to inject new colors into this musical journey. ~ Paul Rogers