It seems like only several days before yesterday when "American Idol" finalist and long-haired heartthrob Casey James was told he wouldn't be in the Season 9 finale. Nearly two years later, the bluesy Texan is finally ready to release an album.
Casey James and his recording label have finally decided on a launch date for his first album: March 20 (per Brian Mansfield at "Idol Chatter"). They're also going for the self-titled approach on the first release, hoping to use name recognition to drive sales. But that shouldn't be much of a problem for James, even with the long wait. And no, not because of his good looks (although they don't seem to have hurt his chances for success any). He's had his name -- not to mention his music -- in circulation quite a bit of late. He's had a hit song on the country charts since August.
"Let's Don't Call It A Night," the first single from James' eponymous debut, has been featured on Bob Kingsley's Country Top 40 countdown (which derives its statistics from Mediabase) now for over 20 weeks. Released at the end of August, the song peeked at No. 32 on Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart as well. With that kind of ramp-up, he should do just fine.
Except that isn't all, this week the singer from Cool (the actual name of his home town in Texas) will make his debut on the Ryman Auditorium stage at the hallowed Grand Ole Opry.
The album, which James co-produced with Chris Lindsey, will feature 11 original tracks, nine of which were co-wrote by James himself (one with Lindsey). Lindsey's wife, Aimee Mayo, also co-wrote a song on the album.
While he put the album together, James wrote songs with several talented artists, such as Alabama's Randy Owen, Delbert McClinton, Sugarland's Kristian Bush, and Grammy-winner Tom Douglas (writer of Miranda Lambert's "The House That Built Me" and Tim McGraw's "Southern Voice"). Although the collaborations with Owen, Bush, and Douglas don't appear on the album, it leaves James' fans something to look forward to on future releases -- or bonus tracks. Also appearing on the album is a song co-written with James brother, Brett, and another with David Lee Murphy ("Dust On The Bottle").
James also kept busy by touring with Sugarland and making appearances throughout the U. S. He also made played at the ACM Awards fan party and 2011 CMA Fan Fest, a venue that also featured the last "American Idol" winner and runner-up, Scotty McCreery and Lauren Alaina.
"Casey James" Track Listing:
The Good Life (Casey James/Scooter Carusoe)
Crying On A Suitcase (Lee Thomas Miller/Tom Shapiro/Neil Thrasher)
Let's Don't Call It A Night (Casey James/Brice Long/Terry McBride)
Drive (Casey James/Brad Warren/Brett Warren)
Love The Way You Miss Me (Casey James/Brice Long/Terry McBride)
Undone (Casey James/Scooter Carusoe)
So Sweet (Casey James/Dallas Davidson/Patrick Davis)
She's Money (Casey James/Jaren Johnston)
Tough Love (Casey James/Brett James/David Lee Murphy)
Workin' On It (Bob DiPiero/Brandon Kinney/Daniel Tashian)
Miss Your Fire (Casey James/Chris Lindsey/Aimee Mayo)
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#1 "Also appearing on the album
"Also appearing on the album is a song co-written with James brother, Brett"
>> Brett is not Casey's brother. They share the last name but that's about it :)
V. excited for Casey's album!!