Brendan James

City Winery Philadelphia presents Brendan James with Ione live on September 21st at 7:30pm

Brendan James is an American Singer-Songwriter in the pop/folk genre, akin to David Gray, Jason Mraz, and Elton John. Signed to Capitol Records at age 25, Universal Records at 28, James has reached the #1 spot on ITunes multiple times, accrued more than one million fans in 65 countries on Spotify, and has been played on multiple formats of American and European radio. He has collaborated or toured with the likes of John Mayer, John Legend, Cat Stevens, Carly Simon, Keb Mo, and Andy Grammar, and his songs have been placed in over 15 major television shows and films worldwide.

Truly summing Brendan James up is a difficult task though. You’d have to meet him, talk with him, hear him sing his songs to understand his shocking talent and unique purpose in today’s over saturated music scene. As he puts it: ”What I hope to do is calm, strengthen, and transport my listeners to a better self, and in turn maybe I get there too.” And he means it. Penning songs on the topics of love, optimism, political enlightenment, simplifying, self empowerment, marriage equality, wanderlust, raising a family, aging, and adventuring aimlessly through the natural world, James has left no stone unturned in his six studio albums to date; and in his words, “I’ve only just begun.”

Just home from a 6 month journey around the globe with his wife and two toddlers, James has a plethora of new material and is set to release 4 singles this year, with a full length album coming in the Spring of 2020. His first single, “Through Our Hands” is an autobiographical telling of his family’s trip to 10 countries, watching his children grow ever too quickly along the way.

Find him on Apple Music, Spotify, Amazon, and wherever else music is streamed or sold. Book him for a private show if you get the chance- a trend in performing that he has helped pioneer, and sees as the future of a better artist-audience connection. Or catch him in one of the many public venues he plays regularly in the US and abroad. Either way, bring a friend and take the ride. It’s the only one like it in today’s music biz.

Special Opener - Ione

Ione is from the next town over. A name whispered like a myth in the halls of your school, she's the elusive figure woven into the fabric of your social circle yet always just out of reach. Ione is your friend’s friend, your cousin’s cousin from the other side of the family, a shadow in your peripheral vision. You’ve never met her, but her presence is palpable, like a ghost of dreamy allure and questionable life choices.

Stories about Ione are as varied as they are vivid. Someone saw her smoking a cigarette behind the gym, looking effortlessly cool and untouchable. Another heard she spends her nights crafting haunting melodies on a thrift-store piano, her voice echoing with a melancholic sweetness. She is a tapestry of contradictions—cool and weird, toxic and angelic, a muse for the restless hearts.

Her music, much like her persona, defies easy categorization. It's a raw, emotional journey through the twilight zones of adolescence and the shadows of self-discovery. Ione’s songs are the soundtrack of midnight drives and secret confessions, filled with a vulnerability that feels both intimate and distant. It’s like she threw her diary into a blender and hit “puree.” Ione is the ultimate mashup of cool and weird, sweet and sour, calm and chaotic, strength and weakness, with just a sprinkle of that heavenly vibe people love to romanticize.