Part of the Nashville-based Escondido, the Holland Christian High School grad plays a sold-out show with Lord Huron at The Pyramid Scheme on Monday.
Desert Rockers and a Holland Connection: Tyler James with Jessica Maros of Escondido.
For a guy who readily admits he “wasn’t cool in high school,” Tyler James has racked up some pretty impressive musical credentials since graduating from Holland Christian High School in 2000.
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He’s performed extensively as a solo artist, toured for a few years as a member of the red-hot Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros and formed the ultra-hip, cinematically infused Escondido with singer Jessica Maros in 2011 – a Nashville-based band that’s deservedly earned universal praise for its “sonic bliss” and captivating approach. Escondido even made its national TV debut on “Conan” in April.
“We’ve had a lot of really lucky breaks thus far,” James said from the road during a recent phone interview with Local Spins. “You’re only in control of what art you make and working hard, and the rest is random. We made a good record and you never know what’s going to happen. … With this project, we had a better response than I was expecting.”
DESERT ROCK WITH A CINEMATIC SHEEN
That may be because the “spaghetti Western-style kind of record” the duo concocted for “The Ghost of Escondido” debut has a mesmerizing, big-screen quality. James calls it “desert rock,” a mix of twang, open spaces, echoes and cactus-sharp writing.
“It’s very American roots,” James said a day after the band joined Lord Huron – another fast-rising Michigan-bred outfit led by Okemos native Ben Schneider – on its national tour. Both bands play a sold-out show at Grand Rapids’ The Pyramid Scheme at 8 p.m. Monday, part of what James said they jokingly dub the “Michigan Does Desert Tour.”
Rubbing Elbows with the Stars: Escondido with Conan O’Brien in April.
“I’m huge into Bob Dylan, Paul Simon, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones from a songwriting and production standpoint. When you start adding bells and whistles and tones it has a little bit of a cinematic influence, like anything that Clint Eastwood or Quentin Tarantino might do. We have lots of ballads on our records and we love writing pretty and slow music. But we’re definitely a rock band.”
For James, Monday’s show amounts to a full-fledged homecoming because most of his family lives in Grand Rapids. And his younger brother, Grant Geertsma, who still lives in Holland, recently joined James on tour to play bass and keyboards for Escondido.
(Geertsma’s own indie-folk/rock band, Ringer T, just released its new album, “Nothing But Time.” That Holland-based group features Geertsma, Kyle Schonewill, Kris Schonewill and Justin DeWaard.)
A WEST MICHIGAN HOMECOMING
“I love it out there and go to the beach when I come back,” said James, who uses his first and middle name as a stage moniker.
His parents – Jim Geertsma, a sixth grade math and science teacher at Holland Christian High School, and Belinda Geertsma, a domestic and international adoption caseworker at Bethany Christian Services – recently moved to Grand Rapids from Holland. The family originally is from Iowa.
James, who plays guitar, trumpet and keyboards, said he grew up listening to his dad rehearsing with a barbershop quartet, but didn’t really embrace music until after high school.
Lord Huron, with Ben Schneider, headlines Monday’s show.
“I played music a little bit, but I hardly wrote a song,” he recalled, noting he did participate in musical theater and Tulip Time events. “I sang in choir and played trumpet in the band but I wasn’t really into music at all. I knew like four chords.”
But attending Belmont University in Nashville helped spark his solo musical career and he remembers playing Lemonjello’s in Holland and Calvin College in Grand Rapids “a couple times.”
Now, as Escondido picks up steam with its independently released debut, James hopes the next time the band can return to West Michigan as a headliner so more hometown friends can attend.
“We’re like the label owners,” he said of the band project. “It’s a fun little family and we all work together and it’s exciting because we’re all in it for ourselves. It’s more rewarding that way.
“You get to see all sides in this business. We have friends who are mega-stars and friends struggling who just make music to make music. You learn from all those situations.”
Learn more about Escondido at its official website and check out a video for the band’s song “Black Roses” here, with a trumpet intro from James.
Email John Sinkevics at jsinkevics@gmail.com.
Copyright 2013, Spins on Music
