James Hickey blends heartbreak folk with up-beat, alt-country blues topped with a dash of pop. Hickey is a bold performer who strives to go beyond the realm of public recital and into the spectrum of entertainer. He is both light-hearted and heavy-handed in his approach to song writing, throwing the first punch and taking the last hit.

Recordings and Tours

The single Last Sucker in Town was released in May 2016. James toured July-September 2016 with a string of dates to help promote the release.

In 2014 James Hickey toured Europe performing 16 official shows in France, Germany, UK and Ireland.

After more than 10 years performing in pubs and clubs around Australia, James released his first official EP Signal Girl in February 2013, launching it in Adelaide, Melbourne and Perth. James also performed in the USA in 2004, where he toured around the country playing open mics and recording an EP entitled Machine Make Music.

Performances

Besides South Australia, James has also performed interstate in Melbourne (Bar Open, Retreat Hotel, Empress, Espy, Revolver Upstairs, Wesley Anne, Pure Pop Records, Great Britain, Open Studio, Vice Bar, Some Velvet Morning), Brisbane (Trubadore), Sydney (The Little Guy, Wild Rover, Gasoline Pony, The Mercantile) and Perth (Indi Bar, Gov’s Bar on Rottnest Island).

Influences

Some of his influences include Tom Waits, Jeff Buckley, Elliot Smith, You Am I, Bob Dylan, Custard, Belle and Sebastian, Weezer, Wes Montgomery, Jimi Hendrix, Kinks, Dean Martin, Otis Redding, and Bon Iver.

Reviews

“I think some of the old hands were a bit apprehensive of what my interpretation of a good artist might be and they were sooo impressed with your performance. I can remember when I heard you at ARC with my friend Jo and when you started playing/singing we both just turned around to look at each other  and new instantly that you were a good find. And that was basically the feedback I got from the committee after your gig, that you were a very welcome and unexpected surprise and ‘golden’ I think was one comment.

So pats on the back to you. I certainly found you more than just a performer – you are an entertainer and you can sing, play and perform extremely well.”

“I have to say, that Arcade Fire cover you guys did was amazing! One of my fave songs and it was done justice”

“Great music! We enjoyed hearing your music at our roadtrip via great ocean road. Keep it up!”

“Good stuff, man. Absolutely loved tonight. Top stuff…gave that stage a jolly good old rogering :)”

“touched me deep inside in a way I haven’t been touched since year 10 when I finally held hands with my Indonesian crush.”

James has been performing and writing songs for over ten years around Australia and in various corners of the globe.

In 1999 he was part of a spoken word outfit called ‘James and the b-Rads’, their song Anomaly being played on triple J’s Aus Music show.

Besides music, James also delves into spoken word. He has been feature poet at Melbourne’s Voices in the Attic (2015), Eltham Court House (2015), Poets at the Dan (2016) and the Brunswick Hotel’s Passionate Tongues (2016). He was the feature poet at Adelaide’s Gawler Pub poets and he was regularly performing at the variety night Monday Night for the Lonely Soul between 2013 and 2016 until it ceased operation.

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