official ceri james website

BIOG:

Ceri was born in London but grew up in Swansea, South Wales. At the age of 15 he started learning guitar and played with school friends in a band called Gwylan, which is the Welsh word for Seagull. Their first gig was organised to raise money for the Live Aid appeal.
In early summer of 1997 Ceri met up with and joined a band called Zen (www.zenuk.com) with whom he toured France and did many gigs in England.
Wanting to focus more on his own material he joined Atomic Central in early 1998 and played the Camden circuit, where his own songs were featured very prominantly in the set. He then chose to start the first of his own bands Bossman, which also involved Ceri's close friend Jon Dougall on lead guitar. By this time Ceri had relocated from Fulham to the New Cross area of London where there seemed to be more happening at a roots level musically and subsequently most of his live performances occurred at local venues in the area, such as the Paradise Bar, Amersham Arms, Goldsmith Tavern, Crystal Palace Tavern, Albany Theatre etc.
Bossman went their seperate ways in early 2001 when Ceri & Jon decided they wanted different things musically but remain friends, Jon went on to form his own band & Ceri started the Outsiders with guitarist Sean Pocock, Ben Powell on bass & Gareth Williams on drums.
The band gigged hard around the south London circuit and wrote & recorded a number of songs, which were for the most part composed by Ceri & Sean. Sean left the band in early part of summer 2002 & the renamed Outlaws played at a self organised festival at Pepys Park, Deptford in August of the same year.
Pepys In The Park was a great success, involving 10 other bands, numerous artists, a childrens carnival, Reggae sound system and record, clothes & food stalls. Ceri personally organised all the music for the festival and also contributed heavily in other departments.
In March 2002 after a short break, the Walpole in New Cross - opposite Amersham Arms, next to New Cross Station - once again became home to the Sunday Night Acoustic Club ran by Ceri & Sean. Dec 2002 saw recordings made by numerous regulars at the club all being put together for release in January 2003. Check out the media page for more details. The club is still going strong every Sunday, so get your arse along and play and support this outlet for local talent!
During December 2002 after a conversation over a beer with close friend Christy from the Zen, where comments about frustration at a lack of recordings was aired, Christy offered to record a collection of Ceri's songs for release. The pair worked fast and well together and two weeks later - including Christmas break! - Beyond The Show's ten songs were mixed and ready to roll.
The songs are varied from the light pop of the Infinite and garage crunch of Hedonist to the darker imagery Eugenics & the title song. You can find details of how to order the CD on the media page, where you can also hear excerpts.
Over the coming months, Ceri is looking to promote the album through live gigs all over London, press & radio play etc and will look to find the right deal to get his recordings out to a wider audience, be it through publishing, management or record companies.