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James Combs and Great Willow
GREAT WILLOW play SENSORIO PASO ROBLES
Sensorio
4380 Highway 46 East
Paso Robles, CA 93446
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James and Erin play the wondrous art installation outside of beautiful Paso Robles, CA
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James Combs and Great Willow Biography
BOOKING & PRESS USA: LaurelCanonLA @ gmail.com, 323 369 1540
PRESS/RADIO UK: gpromo @ btinternet.com
ABOUT JAMES COMBS
A prolific songwriter with a poetic flair, James has been called "one of folk-pop's best kept secrets" by the LA Weekly and "the missing link between Low and John Lennon" by UK's Guardian newspaper.
James musical ride has included a BBC Peel Session, a Lollapalooza, a co-written True Blood end title sung by Iggy Pop/Best Coast, nine albums (including releases on the super cool Priority and Ubiquity record labels), live performances from Berlin to London to New York to New Orleans to San Francisco to The Laurel Canyon Country Store, and stages shared with Jackson Browne, Van Dyke Parks, Tom Verlaine, Yo La Tengo, Marianne Faithfull, Inara George, They Might Be Giants, John C. Reilly, more... In 2019, James was invited to play with his band Great Willow at Laurel Canyon's prestigious Love Street Festival, the only current LA band invited to share the main stage bill with surviving members of 60s legends The Doors, The Monkees, The Mamas and The Papas, and Love.
James also just might be the only songwriter you know who has had a song he wrote featured in a question by Alex Tribek on Jeopardy! His songs have been featured in some of the coolest shows on TV, including Six Feet Under, True Blood, Shameless and many more. His latest album Falling Under Spells was released to rave reviews, extensive airplay in Europe and LA, and was named a top 20 album of the year by UK Music site Blues Blues.
James is one half of the close harmony duo GREAT WILLOW with Erin Hawkins (www.greatwillowmusic.com), is the co-founder and Director of Sync Licening at the agency Laurel Canon Music, original co-founder of Bloomington, Indiana’s Lotus World Music and Arts Festival, a board member at FAR-West (the annual west coast songwriter festival) as well as curator for FAR-West’s monthly concert series, FAR-West Presents.
ABOUT GREAT WILLOW
With an affinity for classic Laurel Canyon songwriting as well as a forward looking perspective, close harmony duo GREAT WILLOW’S debut album “Find Yourself In Los Angeles” was called “an incredible addition to any Americana library” by alt-country bible NO DEPRESSION.“The perfectly combined voices of James Combs and Erin Hawkins is the stuff legends are made of …”
Prolific songwriters with a poetic flair, you can often find them sharing bills with the cream of the southern CA Americana scene. James and Erin have also shared bigger stages with Jackson Browne, Tenacious D, Sara Bareilles, Van Dyke Parks… and were the only current LA band asked asked to play the main stage at 2019’s Love Street Festival in Laurel Canyon - along with surviving members of 60s legends The Doors, The Monkees, The Mamas and The Papas, and Love.
The band has released a steady stream of singles including a collaboration with California psychedelic country legends I See Hawks In LA called “Radio Keeps Me On The Ground” that MOJO journalist Michael Simmons called “a powerful dose of communal hippie optimism.” You might have heard their songs on The SOCAL Sound or featured as a “Today’s Top Tune” on KCRW or in TV shows like True Blood and Shameless.
Great Willow has two EP’s slated for 2025 release - a live-in-studio electric set made with Grammy winning producer and guitarist John Would (Fiona Apple) and a second, six-song collection of audience faves.
In their other lives, James is a board member for the Folk Alliance’s FAR-West conference and Erin is a fine artist and home interiors restorationist.
PRESS
"Love James Combs. He's one of those singer/songwriter/musicians who should have spent his entire career at the top of the charts." PENELOPE SPHEERIS, DIRECTOR, “THE DECLINE OF WESTERN CIVILIZATION Pts 1, 2 & 3”, “WAYNE’S WORLD”
“An incredible addition to any Americana library.” NO DEPRESSION
James Combs is a singer-songwriter described by LA Weekly as "one of folk-pop's best-kept secrets" and by New Band of the Day, an even higher authority, as the missing link between Low and John Lennon, but these are no stripped-down, bare-bones confessionals rendered on a dusty acoustic. Imagine the moody melodies and sepulchral atmospheres of the former and the plain-speaking lyrics of the latter. Oh, and a voice that quivers like the world's biggest nerve ending. And you should hear him sing. If you like Liam Finn, the son of Crowded House's Neil, and his introspective but accessible debut album, or if you miss Elliott Smith and found his musings tortuously overwrought (in a good way), then you'll love Combs's literate, lightly lacerating guitar-pop. It's a bit Beck, a bit Beatles, a bit Hunky Dory Bowie, and it sounds more like a band than a lonesome troubadour singing his heart out, with rich textures and dense layers, psychedelic touches and production filigree, to garnish these tales of love gone wrong… PAUL LESTER, THE GUARDIAN
“James Combs makes Americana music for people who think they don’t like Americana Music… Falling Under Spells’ could become the most successful of Combs’s solo albums. To that fertile mix of folk, pop, twang, and psychedelia Combs brings his undoubted songwriting skills and his refusal to be contained musically by any narrow definition of genre… give ‘Falling Under Spells’ a listen, you won’t be disappointed.” AMERICANA UK
“Combs is as adept at introspective confessionals as he is sharpening his pen to play topical folk singer.” , BUZZBANDS.LA
“I love this song.” NIC HARCOURT 88.5FM LOS ANGELES
"James Combs delivered song after poignant song with self effacing charm, quickly becoming a favorite among the audience and songwriters that day." BRETT PERKINS, DIRECTOR, IDYLLWILD SONGSWRITERS FESTIVAL
“Joy Is Allowed,” LA songwriter James Combs reminds us, sharing vocal duties with Kelly Atkins on a beautifully titled new song that’s here to prove that The City of Angels Love-fueled knack for trumpet-enhanced gracefulness is still alive and thriving.” CAMILLA AISA, SHINDIG!
“Four Stars… Power folk is here to stay: his name is Combs, James Combs...” PARIS MOVE
“timeless, finely crafted, tuneful songs. James Combs is a musical force of nature who injects every song with genuine joy.” PAUL ZOLLO, AMERICAN SONGWRITER and SONGWRITERS ON SONGWRITING
WINNER - BEST AMERICANA GROUP (GREAT WILLOW) LA MUSIC CRITIC AWARDS
(Great Willow’s collaborative single with I See Hawks In LA) “Radio Keeps Me On The Ground” is soothing nerve tonic for those unsettled by the viral plague currently re-writing human reality. With an irresistable melody and close harmonies, the song is a powerful dose of communal hippie optimism that couldn’t be more welcome during one fuck of a hellish bummer. MICHAEL SIMMONS, MOJO, LA Weekly
One of folk pop’s best kept secrets - LA WEEKLY
Read MorePRESS/RADIO UK: gpromo @ btinternet.com
ABOUT JAMES COMBS
A prolific songwriter with a poetic flair, James has been called "one of folk-pop's best kept secrets" by the LA Weekly and "the missing link between Low and John Lennon" by UK's Guardian newspaper.
James musical ride has included a BBC Peel Session, a Lollapalooza, a co-written True Blood end title sung by Iggy Pop/Best Coast, nine albums (including releases on the super cool Priority and Ubiquity record labels), live performances from Berlin to London to New York to New Orleans to San Francisco to The Laurel Canyon Country Store, and stages shared with Jackson Browne, Van Dyke Parks, Tom Verlaine, Yo La Tengo, Marianne Faithfull, Inara George, They Might Be Giants, John C. Reilly, more... In 2019, James was invited to play with his band Great Willow at Laurel Canyon's prestigious Love Street Festival, the only current LA band invited to share the main stage bill with surviving members of 60s legends The Doors, The Monkees, The Mamas and The Papas, and Love.
James also just might be the only songwriter you know who has had a song he wrote featured in a question by Alex Tribek on Jeopardy! His songs have been featured in some of the coolest shows on TV, including Six Feet Under, True Blood, Shameless and many more. His latest album Falling Under Spells was released to rave reviews, extensive airplay in Europe and LA, and was named a top 20 album of the year by UK Music site Blues Blues.
James is one half of the close harmony duo GREAT WILLOW with Erin Hawkins (www.greatwillowmusic.com), is the co-founder and Director of Sync Licening at the agency Laurel Canon Music, original co-founder of Bloomington, Indiana’s Lotus World Music and Arts Festival, a board member at FAR-West (the annual west coast songwriter festival) as well as curator for FAR-West’s monthly concert series, FAR-West Presents.
ABOUT GREAT WILLOW
With an affinity for classic Laurel Canyon songwriting as well as a forward looking perspective, close harmony duo GREAT WILLOW’S debut album “Find Yourself In Los Angeles” was called “an incredible addition to any Americana library” by alt-country bible NO DEPRESSION.“The perfectly combined voices of James Combs and Erin Hawkins is the stuff legends are made of …”
Prolific songwriters with a poetic flair, you can often find them sharing bills with the cream of the southern CA Americana scene. James and Erin have also shared bigger stages with Jackson Browne, Tenacious D, Sara Bareilles, Van Dyke Parks… and were the only current LA band asked asked to play the main stage at 2019’s Love Street Festival in Laurel Canyon - along with surviving members of 60s legends The Doors, The Monkees, The Mamas and The Papas, and Love.
The band has released a steady stream of singles including a collaboration with California psychedelic country legends I See Hawks In LA called “Radio Keeps Me On The Ground” that MOJO journalist Michael Simmons called “a powerful dose of communal hippie optimism.” You might have heard their songs on The SOCAL Sound or featured as a “Today’s Top Tune” on KCRW or in TV shows like True Blood and Shameless.
Great Willow has two EP’s slated for 2025 release - a live-in-studio electric set made with Grammy winning producer and guitarist John Would (Fiona Apple) and a second, six-song collection of audience faves.
In their other lives, James is a board member for the Folk Alliance’s FAR-West conference and Erin is a fine artist and home interiors restorationist.
PRESS
"Love James Combs. He's one of those singer/songwriter/musicians who should have spent his entire career at the top of the charts." PENELOPE SPHEERIS, DIRECTOR, “THE DECLINE OF WESTERN CIVILIZATION Pts 1, 2 & 3”, “WAYNE’S WORLD”
“An incredible addition to any Americana library.” NO DEPRESSION
James Combs is a singer-songwriter described by LA Weekly as "one of folk-pop's best-kept secrets" and by New Band of the Day, an even higher authority, as the missing link between Low and John Lennon, but these are no stripped-down, bare-bones confessionals rendered on a dusty acoustic. Imagine the moody melodies and sepulchral atmospheres of the former and the plain-speaking lyrics of the latter. Oh, and a voice that quivers like the world's biggest nerve ending. And you should hear him sing. If you like Liam Finn, the son of Crowded House's Neil, and his introspective but accessible debut album, or if you miss Elliott Smith and found his musings tortuously overwrought (in a good way), then you'll love Combs's literate, lightly lacerating guitar-pop. It's a bit Beck, a bit Beatles, a bit Hunky Dory Bowie, and it sounds more like a band than a lonesome troubadour singing his heart out, with rich textures and dense layers, psychedelic touches and production filigree, to garnish these tales of love gone wrong… PAUL LESTER, THE GUARDIAN
“James Combs makes Americana music for people who think they don’t like Americana Music… Falling Under Spells’ could become the most successful of Combs’s solo albums. To that fertile mix of folk, pop, twang, and psychedelia Combs brings his undoubted songwriting skills and his refusal to be contained musically by any narrow definition of genre… give ‘Falling Under Spells’ a listen, you won’t be disappointed.” AMERICANA UK
“Combs is as adept at introspective confessionals as he is sharpening his pen to play topical folk singer.” , BUZZBANDS.LA
“I love this song.” NIC HARCOURT 88.5FM LOS ANGELES
"James Combs delivered song after poignant song with self effacing charm, quickly becoming a favorite among the audience and songwriters that day." BRETT PERKINS, DIRECTOR, IDYLLWILD SONGSWRITERS FESTIVAL
“Joy Is Allowed,” LA songwriter James Combs reminds us, sharing vocal duties with Kelly Atkins on a beautifully titled new song that’s here to prove that The City of Angels Love-fueled knack for trumpet-enhanced gracefulness is still alive and thriving.” CAMILLA AISA, SHINDIG!
“Four Stars… Power folk is here to stay: his name is Combs, James Combs...” PARIS MOVE
“timeless, finely crafted, tuneful songs. James Combs is a musical force of nature who injects every song with genuine joy.” PAUL ZOLLO, AMERICAN SONGWRITER and SONGWRITERS ON SONGWRITING
WINNER - BEST AMERICANA GROUP (GREAT WILLOW) LA MUSIC CRITIC AWARDS
(Great Willow’s collaborative single with I See Hawks In LA) “Radio Keeps Me On The Ground” is soothing nerve tonic for those unsettled by the viral plague currently re-writing human reality. With an irresistable melody and close harmonies, the song is a powerful dose of communal hippie optimism that couldn’t be more welcome during one fuck of a hellish bummer. MICHAEL SIMMONS, MOJO, LA Weekly
One of folk pop’s best kept secrets - LA WEEKLY
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