James Conlin

James is a professional guitar player, music instructor and performer. He has performed in signed and unsigned bands in England since he was 16 years old.

He has performed in a variety of bands including cover bands and original popular music in styles such as Punk, Rock and Metal, Jazz and Blues, though his influences extend far beyond these genres and styles.

Hailing from the City of Sunderland in the United Kingdom, James’ musical background is that of local heritage and formal training. After leaving high school he played in venues with bands around the North Eastern music scene and soon began touring around the country as the guitarist in the band Raish while he continued to pursue varied opportunities with other established local bands.

At the same time, James enrolled in a popular music course at City of Sunderland college and studied under Gary Dunn and Jim Hornsby until attaining his National Diploma in Popular music in 2005. After that, James went on to study Popular music at Newcastle college where he attained a bachelors degree in Popular music. The course consisted of music performance, business and recording under the tuition of Steve Reay, Ross Lewis and studied guitar under Jamie McReady.

To continue his musical education, he went on to study Popular and Contemporary music under Dr Will Edmondes and Dr Bennett Hogg where he studied performance, improvisation, composition and guitar with Mick Wright.

During this time, he played in touring bands around the country and taught his own students.