Country artist Casey James first emerged on the scene with his third-place run on season nine of American Idol, but he had already been making music for more than a decade when he took his mum's advice to try out for the hit series (despite never having seen it himself!). USA Today music critic Brian Mansfield said that James "was the best guitarist the show has seen."
A native of Cool, Texas, James grew up surrounded by music. Both his parents played guitar and sang, as did other family members, and Casey played guitar and performed throughout his young adulthood. His wide-ranging influences include artists such as Merle Haggard, Vince Gill, ZZ Top and Bonnie Raitt, with a mix of '70s rock, blues and outlaw country shaping his style.
To say that Casey had a hand in creating his debut album would be an understatement. Casey wrote nine of the 11 songs on the album, played both the electric and acoustic guitar throughout, and co-produced the album.