Up And Coming New Nashville- James Dupre (With Exclusive Interview)

Long live the underdog!

James Dupre is a country singer/songwriter from Bayou Chicot, Louisiana. With a unique style that follows traditional country music with a hint of folk rock influence, he is inspired by artists like Jackson Browne, Randy Travis, Vince Gill, Waylon Jennings, Alison Krauss, and Keith Whitley. While he pursues his music career, he works as an EMT-Paramedic for Acadian Ambulance Service and resides in Eunice, Louisiana with his wife Kristen and three sons, Paul, Topher and Nickie.

In the past year, James has posted over 80 home-recorded tracks on his Youtube and Myspace pages. To date, his sites have gathered 1.5 million views and thousands of fans, pushing his on-line presence to the point where people from across the world are requesting songs, tour dates and album releases by the masses. Recently, James began working with world renowned producers Kyle Lehning and Jerry Douglas in Nashville, writing and recording songs in studio.

For more information, visit www.myspace.com/jamesdupremusic or check out the video below our exclusive That Nashville Sound interview.

TNS- What brought you to Nashville?

JD- Well, I think a true miracle. Never in a million years would I have imagined this happening. I just started putting videos of myself singing songs on YouTube, just to see what kind of responses I'd get. After just a few months, a guy from Florida (who is now my manager) calls me up and says that he can help me out if I wanted to give it a shot. He had a couple of contacts in Nashville, one of whom is a guy named Jerry Douglas, the world-renowned dobro player. Jerry heard me and wanted to meet, so my manager and I went up to Nashville. Jerry was interested in helping me out and suggested a few producers that he knew would be interested in working with me. The one that he called up is a guy named Kyle Lehning. Throughout the last year, I've been up there several times, working with some of Nashville's best songwriters, and recording with extraordinary musicians. It's very surreal, and I'm having a great time.

TNS- Looking over your career thus far, what do you rank as a couple of the highlights?

JD- I think the very first time I went to Nashville was one of the most exciting times in my life. This was December 2007, and I was going to meet Jerry Douglas. Another was in June this year, when I stepped into Ocean Way Studios in Nashville for my first recording session. Like I said, surreal.

TNS- What might people be suprised to find out about you?

JD- Well, let's see. I grew up wanting to be a meteorologist. I've always been interested in the weather. Music was always a passion as well, but I was always very shy and did not in public. It was actually in 2002, I was attending the University of Louisiana at Monroe, majoring in Atmospheric Sciences, when I joined a local church band and really opened up to performing, and eventually fell in love with it. After two years at ULM, my wife and I moved down to Eunice, her hometown, and I began to focus on music while working as a paramedic.

TNS- What kind of music are you listening to? What's in your iPod?

JD- I listen to a wide variety of stuff, I'm definitely not narrow-minded when it comes to music. I have songs from James Taylor and Simon & Garfunkel to Willie and Waylon. Journey, Bryan Adams, Iron & Wine, Blake Shelton, Jackson Browne, Sarah McLachlan, Vince Gill, Alison Krauss, Nickel Creek, Matchbox 20, The Beatles, Aaron Neville, Frank Sinatra, Michael Bublé, George Strait, and of course I can go on for a while.

TNS- If you had a crystal ball and looked forward ten years, what do you see for yourself?

JD- I'll tell you what I'd like to see, while I know that nothing is guaranteed in this industry, or life for that matter. In 10 years, I'd like to be in the middle of a successful career in music, not because I want fame and fortune, but because this is my passion.. and I've found predicting the weather is pretty difficult these days.

Check out the great song James wrote for his brother- A Hero In My Eyes.