Interview with James Blunt For a few more minutes in the Land of The Free, music fans will be able to impress their friends and co-workers by name-dropping James Blunt’s Back to Bedlam “before it was cool.” However, the window of opportunity for such show-offery is quickly descending towards the sill - last week I heard NBC News Chief White House Correspondent David Gregory name-drop Blunt on my favorite morning radio show, Imus In The Morning. Gregory’s clearly been listening to one of the hundreds of U.S. radio stations that have given Bedlam’s “High” and “Beautiful” the Baby Simba treatment. I recently had the chance to catch up with Mr. Blunt before he grew out his mane and won the hearts of the rest of America. It doesn’t sound like fame has gone to James’ head; overall he sounds like a guy who you wouldn’t mind sharing a few jars with at the local public house. So long as you don’t bring a guitar and your girlfriend, you’ll probably end up with a fun night on your hands. Besides being “a pretty good drinker” and a whiz with the pretty voice and the guitar, James has some Engineering courses under his belt. In another life he had dreams of being a pilot, but he found the pamphlets praising this career path to be “a complete and utter lie” once his feet actually hit said road. The man also cites surfing as one of his preferred recreational activities, a hobby well-suited for his home away from home, California. A gig supporting Jason Mraz is bouncing James around the US until December, and New York and Philadelphia were cited as highlights of the trek thus far. When I revealed that Avoid Peril Global Headquarters is located in Boston, he went on to give some love to the town’s rich musical history and supportive scenesters. Overall, he’s found the Mraz gig to be a great introduction to new cities and an effective means of connecting with new ears. While Bedlam only runs for about 40 minutes, the running time is well-suited to the opening act gig, and the quality of those 40 minutes is surely the reason why David Gregory and others have jumped on the Bluntwagon. James has also found time to work some new songs into his sets, and he expects to be recording new material in the studio by next September. I had to see if there were a few chinks in the nice-guy armor, so in an attempt to stir up controversy I asked James if he looked down on people who went by “Jim” or “Jimmy.” Despite always having been a James, he’s been able to imagine how the other halves live, and he does not hold any animosity towards his less formal peers in the name game. Had he gone on the record as being anti-Jimbo, I probably would have let it slide, given his friendly nature and cute accent. US fans only have a few more weeks to catch James in the flesh; the Mraz gig wraps up in early December, and it’s followed by winter tours of duty in Europe and the UK. Given his steady climb up the charts here in Pie Country, I’m sure late-comers will have plenty of future opportunities to catch Mr. Blunt in action.
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