BIOGRAPHY
THE
EARLY YEARS
James Byrd got his first real guitar when he was 9, but was not serious
until September 18th, 1970 (the day Jimi Hendrix died). Before this, James
did not know who Hendrix was. James' parents had the evening news on that
day, and it showed Hendrix playing the national anthem at Woodstock. In
this, his story is apparently almost the same as Yngwie Malmsteen', but
a lot of boys started wanting to play guitar on that day. His most important
first influences were all blues players for the most part. He learned to
really master blues guitar, and within 5 years he could play like an "Old-soul".
After this, James began listening to other styles of players: Ritchie Blackmore,
Uli Roth with Scorpions, Al DiMeola. The most important guitar influences
from beginning to end were Hendrix, BB King, Johnny Winter, Frank Marino,
Ritchie Blackmore, Uli Jon Roth/Scorpions, Al Di Meola, Jan Hammer (whom
he thought was a guitarist at first, in fact, he thought HE was Jeff Beck,
so he thought Beck was a lot better than he was), D'jango Reinhardt, Jan
Akkerman, Paco DeLucia, Michael Schenker, and Neil Schon.
THE
YOUNG GUITAR TRAVELLER
At age 18, Byrd left home and went on the road with a heavy metal cover
band playing colleges and some large sized venues and events. His band
covered songs by only a few bands: UFO--They performed the 'Strangers
In The Night' material to the note--, and the Scorpions from their Uli
Roth period. About 90 percent of the cover material was from these two
bands, and as a young kid Byrd had to learn these entire guitar solos
note for note. His band won the "Northwest Battle Of The Bands"
and free studio recording time. They did not have a single original
song, so they went in and just played covers live. Byrd decided after
a year in this band, he wanted out, but they tried to get him to stay,
so the soundman (who also wanted to go) and Byrd took-off in the middle
of the night.
FIFTH
ANGEL
In 1980, Byrd put together his first original band with original songs.
In late 1981 he moved to L.A. and spent a year there playing with various
bands at the usual places (Troubador, Perkins Palace etc.). In late
1982, Byrd had had enough of L.A. and wanted to move back to Seattle
to work with two musicians he'd heard before he'd gone to L.A. One was
drummer Ken Mary, the other was vocalist Ted Pilot. This was to become
Fifth Angel. Queensr˙che were recent news in Seattle at this time, so
his plan was to follow their business approach of assembling the players
he wanted, and concentrating solely on writing, rehearsing, producing
an album, and then looking for a recording contract. So that's exactly
what he did. By late 1983, Fifth Angel was in Steve Lawson Productions
with Terry Date recording "Fade to Flames", "Fifth Angel",
"In the Fallout", and "Wings of Destiny". With this
four song demo, about a hundred tapes went out to record companies on
a list. Shrapnel Records was on the list, and Byrd felt that if nothing
else, they'd sign him. Mike Varney was on the phone after one listen
to sign the project. They got a pittance of an advance, but finished
the album by cutting five more tracks. The reviews were stellar, and
Byrd began getting endorsement offers and interviews. In 1987, Fifth
Angel's reputation as an act got them management with Concrete Marketing
and Management, and a seven-album deal on Epic/CBS. They re-released
"Fifth Angel" in late 1987/early 1988. The seeds of destruction
for Fifth Angel were sown as soon as large sums of money looked likely.
Byrd was out of the band he'd created very shortly after the CBS agreement
was signed. Details can be found in an interview with Rock
Reunion.
ATLANTIS
RISING
In 1988/89, Byrd returned to Shrapnel Records under his own name and
recorded 'James Byrd's Atlantis Rising'. A lawsuit between Shrapnel
and their distributors left the album in a warehouse for an entire year
with no distribution, but still was advertised in major press by Shrapnel.
The album did extremely well in Japan and Europe, but by the time it
was released in the U.S.A., everyone who'd wanted it couldn't find it,
so it had a serious negative impact on its sales in the region.
OCTOGLOMERATE
In 1993, Byrd recorded his first instrumental album: "Octoglomerate".
It was this album that brought Yngwie Malmsteen's introduction. Mike
Varney played Malmsteen some of the tracks over the phone, and Malmsteen
asked for the album. It was sent, and Mike Varney introduced the two
guitarists. 1993 also saw an introduction to long-time hero and influence
Frank Marino, and a close friendship developed between Byrd and Marino.
Frank's comments about Byrd can be found in numerous interviews by Marino.
SON
OF MAN
1995 brought the recording and release of another instrumental album:
"James Byrd - Son of Man". Yngwie Malmsteen granted his only
endorsement of another guitarists work for "Son of Man", and
the album appeared bearing an attachment on it's cover which read "James
Byrd is the most exciting, European-sounding guitarist I've heard in
years" - Yngwie Malmsteen. Several mentions in major guitar magazines
by Malmsteen of Byrd as "A great guitarist" created additional
press, culminating in inclusion in a feature article in Guitar Magazine
in 1996; "The Ten Best Guitarists You've Never Heard Of".
THE
APOCALYPSE CHIME
1996 brought the release of "The James Byrd Group - The Apocalypse
Chime" with vocalist Robert Mason [Lynch Mob / Cry Of Love]. This
was to be Byrd's fulfilment of his last contract to Shrapnel Records.
CRIMES
OF VIRTUOSITY
In 1997, Byrd returned to the Atlantis Rising name with a new label
-JVC Japan, Mascot Europe-and line up. The new album "James Byrd's
Atlantis Rising-Crimes of Virtuosity" was released in 1998 in Japan
and Europe. The album gained extremely strong reviews but sadly
label promotion was lacking for this superb album. Many high profile
magazine articles did follow e.g. Young Guitar, Burn etc. In 2000
James made "Crimes Of Virtuosity" available on mp3.com.
Repackaged and remastered the album was a big success, featuring the
Japanese 'COV' bonus track 'Shot Down In Flames', and the previously
unreleased guitar/orchestra instrumental 'Byrd's Bolero' [whose recording
predates Yngwie Malmsteen's Concerto by some 3 years] were both worth
additions from the Byrd vaults. Several tracks from album scored
highly on the mp3 charts, "Metatron 444" was #2 for 9 straight
weeks and is still in the Top 20 after 6+ months!
BYRD
GUITARS
James started his own 'Byrd Guitars' company in 1999, The Super Avianti
is a bold and exciting new instrument entirely hand built by James,
for more details see the Byrd Guitars
homepage.
FLYING
BEYOND THE 9
May 29th 2001 sees the release of 'Byrd - Flying Beyond The 9' on
Lion Music. The album sets new standard for Byrd's career in songwriting,
production and guitar work. Press reviews are the nothing short of stunning
(see reviews section).
JASON
BECKER TRIBUTE
James contributes a solo to the final track of Lion Music's double cd
tribute to Jason Becker. As well as Byrd's solo the track 'Outro Jam'
features solos from Torben Enveldson, Patrick Rondat, Mike Chlasciakm
Sami Asp and Lars Eric Mattsson. James solo is one of the most unique
on the entire double cd with his tone and style being instantly recognisable.
FALL
2001
Byrd begins work on the follow up to Flying Beyond The 9.