• Home
• Events
• James Montgomery

James Montgomery

For James Montgomery his music career all started while growing up on the streets of Detroit, learning the Blues firsthand from James Cotton, John Lee Hooker and Jr. Wells. Montgomery is best known as the lead singer, blues harp player, front man and bandleader of The James Montgomery Blues Band (a.k.a. The James Montgomery Band). Montgomery collaborates with many star performers and recording artists, but we will get to that.. While attending Boston University, where he earned a degree in English literature, Mr. Montgomery started the James Montgomery Band. During his junior year, he was hired by the Colwell-Winfield Blues Band to play harmonica and tour with Janis Joplin. By the time he graduated from college his band was on the cover of the Boston Phoenix, heralded along with J. Geils and Aerosmith as the city's great contributions to the music world. Though he said he loved the academic life when offered a $15,000 job at BU, Mr. Montgomery took a $250,000 offer to record records and tour with the Allman Brothers instead, and never looked back." by Pamela Marean, Standard-Times correspondent, September 6, 2007 In 1970 Montgomery formed The James Montgomery Band. His harmonica playing, singing and energetic stage show led to his band gaining a reputation as one of the hottest bands on the New England music scene. Montgomery has toured with many artists, including Aerosmith, The J. Geils Band, Bonnie Raitt, Bruce Springsteen, The Allman Brothers, The Steve Miller Band, The Johnny Winter Band, The Blues Brothers with (Jim Belushi and Dan Aykroyd) and others. James Montgomery has performed on stage with a long list of musicians including B.B. King, Muddy Waters, Buddy Guy, John Lee Hooker, Junior Wells, James Cotton, Bonnie Raitt, Steven Tyler just to name a very few because the list IS LONG. Montgomery recalls the night he played with Muddy Waters at Paul's Mall in Boston, Massachusetts. "I couldn't believe it. Here I was on stage with Muddy Waters," Montgomery recalls with a smile. "It was such a great feeling." James had his own syndicated radio show for five years called "Backstage With the Blues" The show combined great Blues songs along with the stories behind the music, told by the musicians themselves, it provided a bridge between the listeners and the artists as they reminisced about the history of their music.

Gates open at 6pm, Showtime is 7pm