A rock & roll lifer, James Maddock has been carving his unique path since the 1980s, when the British-born singer/songwriter kicked off his career with a raw, soulful voice; a storyteller’s sense of narrative; and the ability to blur the lines between folk, classic pop, and rock. Backed by his longtime band of NYC-area musicians, James sets the world to music, mixing sweeping melodies and rousing choruses with lyrics that shine a bright light on these darker times.
James Maddock’s status as a fixture on the Folk and Americana scene is confirmed with every listen of any song in his prodigious catalog. Relix Magazine put it this way: “James Maddock possesses the kind of lived-in craggy voice that would sound authoritative if he were singing the sports pages. Fortunately, he doesn’t need to do that because his compositional skills are a match for his delivery.”
After fronting the Columbia Records band Wood, whose debut Songs From Stamford Hill was featured prominently on TV shows such as “Dawson’s Creek,” Maddock moved from England to New York City in 2003. His 2009 album Sunrise On Avenue C won a New York Music Award for Best Americana Album, while the follow-up Wake Up And Dream ranked among the top albums of 2011 in WFUV’s (NYC) Listener Poll. With the release of Another Life (2013) and The Green (2015) Maddock continued to demonstrate why many consider him to be one of the best singer/songwriters working today. He has performed with Bruce Springsteen, Willie Nile, Aaron Comess (Spin Doctors) and David Immergluck (Counting Crows). According to radio legend Vin Scelsa, Maddock’s “heartbreakingly beautiful and exquisitely crafted” music “touches the soul.” As a songwriter, James recently had three songs co-written with Mike Scott on the new Waterboys album Modern Blues (which appeared in the Top 50 on the UK Albums Chart), a co-write with Gary Barlow (“Actress”) on Barlow’s new album (2X Platinum), as well as a cut (“Fragile”) on the Dirt On My Tongue album by emerging UK artist Jo Harman. Songs from Another Life have been featured on NBC’s Parenthood and ABC Family’s Switched at Birth. Maddock is a constant live presence in the U.S. and Europe.
James Maddock returns with a new album titled “Night Work”, which features about ten tracks, mostly with a vibrant rock vibe, composed in Brooklyn in just three weeks in the fall of 2022. “Night Work” refers precisely to the writing of the songs, which in the case of the British singer-songwriter based in New York is especially at night. That phase followed months in which Maddock rounded up a band that this time includes friends from both the Big Apple and Londoners. The latter, in particular, take us back to Maddock’s past and debuts with the Woods. In fact, the case meant that the band’s drummer Steve Jackson contacted James right between writing and recording the album, informing him that he had set up a small studio. Maddock has thus involved not only him, but also Wood bassist James O’Malley, creating a record that almost seems to map his musical path.
