“If rosin were flammable violinist Elana James would be charged with arson.”
ink19.com
NPR
“An infectious combination of verbal wit and instrumental guile.”
Raul Malo (The Mavericks)
“Elana is one of the sexiest, most talented musicians. Her style hints of another era…taking you places you thought were unreachable by today’s standards. And yet, here she is…”
Greg Cahill, allthingsstrings.com
“James takes her inspiration from former Texas Playboy fiddler Johnny Gimble, but her playing also offers a nod to the red-hot stylings of jazz violin pioneer Stuff Smith.”
New York Music Daily (2014)
“A welcome, raw, chromatically-fueled intensity”
Sean Daly, JazzTimes
“[James’s] inventive violin style can still conjure up the unique image of Bob Wills strolling through Tin Pan Alley.”
Clive Davis, The Times (London)
“James handles vintage songs with great assurance. “I Can’t Give You Anything But Love” and “Exactly Like You” are all delivered without a hint of tiresome post-modern irony.”
Colin Fleming, Jazz Times
“James has toured with Dylan, not the most laid-back of bandleaders, but one with an insistence on individual nuance and appropriate improvisation nonetheless, lessons James has now transposed to a more purely C&W idiom.”
j. poet , Pulse
“…Sunny, amusing love songs given an added poignancy by her effortless vocal style.”
Dorothy Hill , Jazz Now
“…Innovative, original lyrics…Elana James’ unaffected vocalizing is infectious.”
Marty Jones, Denver Westword
“Some of [James’] songs seem destined to become classics. Her songs–like the best of Gillian Welch’s–sound like age-old gems unearthed, tunes ripe with sparse but powerful images, rustic phrasing and sweet playing.”
David Lynch, Austin Chronicle
“James exudes pure countrified fiddle goodness.”
Derek Raymaker, Toronto Globe & Mail
“…James did not allow her cheerful stage presence and aggressive fiddling to overpower her subdued and smoky voice…. By the end of the night, [her] bow was frayed and the crowd was spent.”
Craig Havighurst , Nashville Tennessean
“As a fiddler, singer and writer, Elana James simply glows…She sings with elegant command.”
Willie Nelson
“A beautiful voice, a fantastic musician, with the heart and soul of an angel.”
Rolling Stone (Australia), May 2009
“The First Lady of the Fiddle”
Jon Pareles, New York Times
“Elana James’ throaty violin solos arrived in terse, epigrammatic phrases with a sprint, every so often, into chromatic harmony. She also sang in a breathy, un-self-conscious voice that made every double-entendre seductive.”