James Ferris & The James St. North

James Ferris & The James St. North are a roots rock band out of the gritty music scene in Hamilton, Ontario. Seasoned performers with a slightly different approach to rock and roll, their high energy sound takes straight ahead rock and blends traditional instruments like banjos and accordions layered with a heavy dose of vocal harmonies.
This may be mostly because their frontman and principal songwriter grew up in the Celtic hotbed of Halifax, and has been running a successful East Coast Kitchen Party residence in Hamilton for the past 10 years. “It just seemed natural to play the music we loved with the tools we had to play it”. Call this style what you will – a Canadian take on heartland rock, roots rock, maybe just plain old rock and roll – but singer-songwriter James Ferris knows how to connect to an audience and deliver.
With a vibe that’s part stadium show, part kitchen party, James’ live performances harness a traditional east-coast, throw-down energy with a hefty delivery of raw vocal power at its center. A dynamic performer with a bare-bones approach to arrangements, he’s as comfortable connecting with 20 people as he is 2,000, with a band or alone with acoustic guitar in hand.
In fine east coast fashion, many band members are multi-instrumentalists and singers, and there’s a pool of talent that rotates in and out from show to show. If you're looking for upbeat and driving indie folk rock, this may just be the "banjo" looking for, "accordion" to good sources.