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Paul McCartney's son, James, will play in Santa Barbara, L.A. next week

• By From staff reports
• Ventura County Star
• Posted April 4, 2013

When you’re part of a big family — especially a big, famous family — sometimes you just need a little “me” time.

That time is now for James McCartney. The son of Beatle Paul and brother of fashion designer Stella, he’s ready to step into the solo spotlight with his first full-length album, “Me.” The disc is due May 21 from the ECR Music Group.

To get the word out about the release, he’s hitting the road on a 47-date U.S. tour that will take him to Santa Barbara, Los Angeles and Indio.

“For my first album I wanted to make a record that would be intimate, deeply personal and honest,” McCartney said in a news release. “An album that would say, ‘This is who I am ... both musically and personally. This is me.’ ”

Onstage, it really will just be him. He’ll be performing without a band, and without a net. All he’ll have at his disposal will be a guitar, a piano and a batch of new songs.

That should be enough. McCartney, 36, is by no means a novice. Born in 1977, when his dad and late mom Linda were still flying high in Wings, he began playing guitar at age 9. By the time he was in his 20s, he was working with his dad in the studio, playing guitar on “Flaming Pie” (1997) and co-writing the songs “Spinning on an Axis” and “Back in the Sunshine Again” on “Driving Rain” (2001).

“It’s like a master’s class times infinity,” he told Britain’s Channel 4 about working with his dad. “But he’s just my dad at the end of the day.”

McCartney has been testing the solo waters the past few years, releasing a pair of EPs. “Available Light” from 2010 featured the catchy track “Angel”; “Close at Hand” came out in 2011. When songs from the two discs were combined into “The Complete EP Collection” last year, and he mounted a short U.S. tour, critics started to take notice. “(He) has clearly forged a winning sound of his own,” the New York Daily News wrote. The Boston Globe praised his “promising pop-rock tunes” and said he’s “learned a few lessons about melody, phrasing and charm.”

McCartney will perform at 8 p.m. April 10 at SOhO (1221 State St., Santa Barbara; 962-7776), at 7 p.m. April 16-17 at Hotel Cafe (1623½ N. Cahuenga Blvd., Los Angeles; http://hotelcafe.com) and April 12 and 19 at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival (Empire Polo Club, Indio; http://coachella.com). McCartney’s website is http://www.jamesmccartney.com.


Contributed photo “My favorite artists are the ones who evolve and grow,” James McCartney says. “I want to be one of them.”