A big payoff for Vanja James

Vanja James has seen it all in the past year. Back in September of 2006, a series of quite miraculous musical events landed her moving to Walnut Creek, a city about 30 minutes outside of San Francisco.

San Diego was Vanja's stomping grounds for some time. She was at the top of her game with a strong fan base, active radio play on San Diego's local stations, and was quickly becoming a household name.

So why the decision to move?
"I just wanted to be in a rock band. I wasn't finding what I was looking for in San Diego. After 3 years of active searching I told myself at the end of 3 years of searching for musicians I would move. I stumbled upon Red House (a music studio and learning center in Walnut Creek) and decided I needed to live near that place and meet people who loved music as much as I do."

Shortly after the move - three weeks to be exact, her mother and father were in Tahoe making their way to visit, and her father passed away suddenly.

"It was probably the hardest thing I've ever been through. My dad passed away, I didn't feel like giving up on music, didn't want to move back, but at the same time I practically knew nobody in my new town. Thank God for Marshall Leonardy, and for playing music with him, for his brother's band Cold Hot Crash. If it wasn't for that band specifically, and for those guys, and being able to find some solace with them, I don't know what I would have done."

Fast forward to the end of January and right before going back to San Diego for her Dad's memorial, she meets young Trevor James.

"Trevor is practically cousins with one of the girls I was working with, named Anne. Anne introduced me to Trevor, who happens to play music at Red House too."

Trevor James is an 18-year old Chicago native who favors blues style guitar. Watching the James duo in action makes me finally understand what Vanja meant when she said she wanted to be in a band so much. Her music really does come to life in a way that is better than I could have imagined.

So what are the plans for the James Duo?

"Well, we are finally doing what we love playing music every day. The EP is out at the beginning of summer. You'll just have to watch and see what happens!"

You can bet that we will all be waiting for the magic. Perhaps it has already arrived.
- Sally Daniels, San Diego music scene