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James Adelsberger Music Biography

By Joe Arnold, Roughshod Records


James Adelsberger, the eldest of two sons, was born in
March 1995 and resides in Northern Virginia. His
involvement in music began with his familys frequent
visits to his grandparents house in rural New Jersey. He
says he grew up in a non-musical family so the only
exposure he had to musical instruments before grade
school was the piano at his grandparents house.
Enthralled and eager he took a great interest in it and
played it every chance he got.
A quick and determined study, he excelled so well in
general music class that when he entered grade school, his
grandparents drove the piano down to his house to stay. In
2002, in the 2nd Grade, James began taking formal piano lessons from Mr. Arthur Lisi and
performed at his first piano recital. Lisi became his music mentor for several years while he
continued to develop and explore other music genres and instruments. Rhythms came easily
to James, and Lisi, a keen observer of his students, informed James parents youre not
gonna like this... but he needs to be a drummer!
So, starting in 5th grade James joined the Silverbrook Elementary School Band playing
drums and percussion. During that time also gave it a brief go with the clarinet and trumpet.
However, percussion would become his primary focus and what he would eventually study in
college. Resolute and eager to accomplish, he would progressively and effectively teach
himself the guitar, bass guitar, mandolin, ukulele, banjo, and vocals.
Jamess tenure in grades 7 to 12 at Lake Braddock Secondary School in Burke, Virginia,
became a great resource for honing and perfecting his instrumental talents. It was here that
he joined his first serious band, The Right Condition, then comprised of some of his school
friends, Bert Gibbons, Tracy Feerick, and Sean Daugherty, with whom he performed on
numerous occasions at various local northern Virginia nightclubs and venues during 2011
and 2012. In 2011 they produced and released Love Like Fire a 3-song CD of self-penned
songs; 1.Riot, 2.The Meaning, and 3.Love Like Fire. This Pop/Rock first venture into the
commercial music world is available from CD Baby and its affiliates.
James love for performing was greatly encouraged by his Band Directors, Roy Holder,
Michael Luley, and Patrick Smith during his high school years, and by his Orchestra teacher,
Elizabeth Reed. He participated in the Symphonic Band, Drum-line, Orchestra, and Jazz
Ensemble, and they traveled and performed in several different states where his band-mates
and he, collectively and alone, accumulated scores of music awards! Some of the most
notable ones for James being Most Prolific Composer Fairfax Academy in 2012-2013,
Outstanding Jazz Musician Lake Braddock Secondary in 2012-2013, Disney Festival,
Outstanding Jazz Soloist in 2013 at Disney World, All-Virginia Symphonic Band
(percussion) 2011-2013, Second Place Digital Music Composition, Council of the Arts
Competition in 2012, and the Chantilly Jazz All-Star Band (drums) in March 2011.

James says that he is very thankful and grateful to have grown up in such a musically
diverse community and had the opportunity to travel and perform in numerous venues with
many talented and like-minded musicians. And in spite of his extremely busy schedule he
still found time to enjoy his outdoor pleasures, achieve the rank of Eagle Scout in 2010,
perform with his Churchs Contemporary Youth Choir for three years (drums, bass, piano,
mandolin, and guitar) and as a Percussionist with the Washington Metropolitan Youth
Orchestra for two years. He also did volunteer work for youth groups, a Special Needs
Religious Education program, worked as a staff member at Fairfax County Therapeutic
Recreational Services, and studied AP Music Theory and Music & Computer Technology to
mention a select few.
Passionate about music and not one to leave a music stone unturned, between school and
non-school performances James taught himself Classical and Jazz composition with the help
of his Music Theory teachers, Mary DeMarco and John Graham. He became President of the
Tri-M Music Honors Society in 2011-2012, and it was at this juncture that he had his first
hint of his future career; Film Composer. A keen observer with a unique ability to musically
interpret images, James quickly gained notoriety among his friends and others and his
reputation is expanding. Add to the mix his active involvement in music camps and
workshops at the George Mason University Honors Jazz Festival in 2012 (drums & guitar),
National Jazz Workshop at Shenandoah University in 2011 (drums), George Mason Jazz
Camp in 2010 (drums & guitar), and the Institute for the Arts Music Camp in 2009. Even a
blind person can see that James is definitely an all-around musician!
Driven by an insatiable music appetite for more outlets and venues to expand and share his
talents, he began going to the Saturday night jams at Linda Caldwells Coffee House in
Occoquan, Virginia around April of 2012 where he met the yodeling cowboy, Mike Johnson.
His musical versatility immediately struck a chord with everyone, and they marveled at how
easily he adapted to their different musical styles. Particularly Mike Johnson, singer,
songwriter and yodeler, who engaged him in some country picking. Encouraged by this and
his overall acceptance, James continued to stop in whenever his busy schedule allowed, and a
couple of months later on a whim, Mike asked him if hed be interested in creating some
tracks for a couple of his songs. James agreed and was given two songs, Livin Lost Love
on the Jukebox Again and The Heartaches Are Callin the latter a yodeling song, along
with several of Mikes CDs so that he could get a feel for his style. In Mikes own words,
That was one of the best whims Ive had in a long time!
There are people who love to play music, and there are people who have to play music. It
was very obvious to Mike that James was the latter. He was amazed at how vividly James
had captured the feelings in the two songs he gave him to track and saw a lot of potential in
future collaborations because this energetic young man had the same quality as his session
musicians when he was actively recording in Nashville during the 1980s. A firm believer
in the truth of that old saying, "you snooze, you lose" he decided this would be a very prudent
time to act.
While preparing a couple more songs for James to create tracks for, Mike offered to
produce him on his own CD, but that they had to be Mike Johnson songs. James wisely
responded How much is it going to cost me? Weeks earlier he had told Mike that he was

going into a local studio to record an album, but apparently the cost factor and maybe other
production elements kind of killed that project.
Mike told him that hed cover all the costs and would even set him up on his own CD Baby
page and let him keep all of the sales. That he would only have to lay the tracks and produce
the masters for each song. James and his father were also told that if it appeared that the
project was distracting him from his home and school priorities that he would suspend it until
he had more time. With all parties mutually satisfied after Mike explained what each of them
were responsible for, and with the approval of James father, Bernard Adelsberger, Mike
brought James onboard in August 2012 and set the production and promotion wheels in
motion. To test the water's James first release would be a CD Single, Mike realizing that
James voice would need a bit of work because he really hadnt done much formal singing.
On 13 August 2012 Roughshod Records released its 41st CD, Mike Johnsons Single
featuring the two songs James had tracked, Livin Lost Love on the Jukebox Again & The
Heartaches Are Callin. [RCD41-S14082012] Shortly thereafter on 28 August 2013 Mike
set up a photo session for James and took several hundred photos from which they would
choose James CD cover, official portrait, and potential flyers and posters. For his own CD
project, James picked Me and My Sad Self and Or You Can Tell Her That Youre Sorry
two beer drinking songs from Mikes Guitar Songs Vol.5 Acoustic Series Bad Whiskey,
Bad Sex, and Bad Men. [RCD28-0208] They eventually proved to be a little too much and
James asked to change songs. Not wanting to add to the pressure cooker and definitely not
wanting lose this very talented musician, Mike agreed. From Guitar Songs Vol.4 You Never
Got to Sing My Songs a Roger Miller tribute, [RCD27-1207-2] James picked Back Home
Again and The Holy River. These were much more within his vocal range, and typical as
with any newcomer, James again began delivering every voice under the sun except his own.
[Mike did too when he started out] Mike eventually stepped in and began offering him
pointers as well as assuring him that singing doesnt come natural to everyone. That most
people really have to work at it!
Mike also solicited some feedback from some of his talented music friends to help give
James a realistic perspective but not discourage him. Janet McBride, the Yodeling Queen,
Texas; PJ Price, singer-songwriter, Texas; Peter Annemiek, DePlayer Magazine, the
Netherlands; Paul Lawrence, Lawrence Record Shop, Nashville; Rocky Guttmann singersongwriter, Virginia; Trudy Burke, DJ Make Mine Country Radio, Australia; Sharon Marie
Cotton, recording studio owner, California & daughter of Yodeling Carolina Cotton; Dave
Hillbilly Dave Sichak, music researcher, California; Bob Ellis, singer, Virginia; Bob
Everhart, President of National Traditional Country Music Association, Iowa; Rick Franklin,
Piedmont Blues Musician, Virginia; Bill Gibson, singer, Maryland; Buzz Goertzen, the Idaho
Yodeler, Idaho; John Miner, music researcher, Kentucky; Judy Welden, singer-songwriter,
Georgia; Joe Country, the Caribbean Cowboy singer-songwriter, New York; Bill Two
Dogs Thorne, singer-songwriter, Tennessee; and Betty Preston, Mike Prestons former
manager, New Hampshire.
Sometimes younguns can be a little head-strong and cocky [werent most of us at that
age?] and tend to take the Sensei lightly. [wax on-wax off] Mikes outside dose of music

reality helped him bring James back down to earth and made it a lot easier for him to get
James wonderful natural voice as well as vocal consistency.
James took the critiques very well and went at it again, only this time with Mike taking
away some of his creative license and restricting him to rehearsing with the demo version of
each song from scratch to master. After months of demos under some very extenuating
circumstances with the two of them juggling numerous schedules and priorities; school,
chores, orchestra tours & shows, two bands, and college auditions, presentable vocals were
achieved and the production was completed. On 14 November 2012 Roughshod Records
released its 42nd CD, James Adelsberger's CD Single "Back Home Again" & "The Holy
River" [RCD42-S14112012]. Its currently available from CD Baby and its affiliates, as well
as directly from Roughshod Records, Lawrence Record Shop in Nashville, Foxes Music in
Falls Church, Va., CD Cellars in Falls Church and Arlington Va. and A1 Clarendon Valet, in
Arlington, Virginia.
Back tracking a bit, some of the pressure on James was also because of Mikes music
anthology that he was finishing up and wanted to publish before the end of the year. He
wanted to include both his and James new CDs because this book was scheduled to be
included in the Library of Congress growing Mike Johnson collection. I Just Wanted To
Be A Songwriter, a Mike Johnson Music Anthology is 390-page visual presentation of
nearly everything from 1980 to December 2012 [except the internet] that has ever been
printed, published, produced, and distributed about, and by, Mike Johnson and his music.
Loaded with hundreds of images and details of his 45rpms, cassettes, CDs, music books and
other items, they pave the way to 274 pages of articles, contributions, and music reviews.
In December 2012 James informed Mike that hed received a letter of acceptance from
Belmont University on Nashvilles Music Row where he wanted to fulfill his goal of
becoming the best all-around musician possible. He would receive several acceptance
letters from other colleges but was keeping his options open until post graduation in June
2013. Theres no doubt in our minds that with or without college James will still be one of
the best all-around musicians possible, and a very notable and sought after one to boot!
Mikes music anthology was published in December 2012 and on 7 January 2013 he
delivered the first copy to the Library of Congress Performing Arts Reading Room. It does
include James and Mikes new CDs on page 20 and a PDF version on disc is also available.
With the main hoopla over Mike thought he could sneak a little break and then he realized
that he had delayed James recording contract because for awhile it looked as though he
wouldnt complete the project. The songs had to be completed and released within a certain
time frame and Mike didnt see the rationale in signing a contract that might not get fulfilled.
Even though James was officially part of the label with a CD release, Mike didnt let him
sign his official recording contract until 13 January 2013, with Bernard, his very proud
father, co-signing. On 4 February 2013 the trio met for lunch and Mike had James autograph
his official portraits for some radio DJs, including one for Mike and his dad. Mike then
presented him with his official Roughshod Records Recording Artist Certificate and
everyone went home happy.

Shortly afterwards, Mike mailed out the first batch of James new CDs to Lawrence Record
Shop in Nashville, then to radio DJs domestically and abroad, and a couple of magazines.
Mike was also relieved to find a lot more DJs willing to accept MP3 uploads, particularly
overseas, since postage had doubled and almost tripled, depending on the country. Promotion
is an ongoing process and were constantly working on acquiring more consignment outlets
and always seeking new radio stations to add to the long list weve compiled over the years.
Some are gone, but new ones spring up and take their places and were grateful to each and
every one of them.
On 13 February 2013 both of James songs got their first radio airplay from DJ Cowboy
Werner on Gerrys Radio Sound of Heaven Show in Germany. Within two days of his CD
promotional videos being posted on Mikes Youtube Channel, they received 31 and 41 hits,
more than Mikes had on his own videos in quite some time in such a short period.
Other the course of several months other stations aired James CD, Julie & Dave Matheson,
Australia; Trudy Burke, Australia; Kurt Gabriel, Austria; Noel Parry, Australia; Doc Schultz,
Germany; Nicole Trudel, Canada; Bob Atkins, Australia; Pete Smith, England; Donald
Burdick Jr., Tennessee, and Patty Patrick in Austria, to mention a select few. DJs Burke,
Gabriel, and Parry are among a number of DJs that have been playing Mikes songs since the
1990s. The very first station was Nashvilles Record Row Review by DJ Keith Bradford in
1981.
Around April 2013, very impressed with James instrumental skills and his unique ability to
interpret and get into the soul of a song, Mike made the talented multi-instrumentalist the
labels official studio engineer in charge of arranging, recording, and mixing. On 17 May
2013 we received a letter from the Rural Roots Music Commission, sponsored by the 35-year
old National Traditional Country Music Association in Anita Iowa, nominating James CD
Back Home Again for their New Artist Country Music CD of the Year for 2013. You
think that didnt send the youngun into orbit! And once again when he was told that both his
and Mikes new CDs were also a part of the Library of Congress growing Mike Johnson
Collection.
Mike worked up a short set list of songs for the youngun to learn, James added some of his
favorites, and on 19 May 2013 James made his first appearance as a label artist and hawked
some of his CDs at the Old Firestation #3 open mic in Fairfax, Virginia. Though he delivered
a very brave performance and was enthusiastically received, Mike was concerned about him
being overwhelmed by the instrumental volume of the backup musicians. It was however,
good enough for Cactus Moon Video to use the video footage to produce James first DVD!
James graduated from Lake Braddock High School in June 2013 and now it was time to
develop his vocal presence. Remember now, James was already a very busy musician as a
percussionist and drummer in his high school's Orchestra and Marching Band with a long
impressive list of music awards, as well as being a Jazz and Classical music composer and an
active member of the Right Condition Rock Band! They practiced every Saturday, testing
songs, working on vocal techniques, swapping ideas, and performed every Monday night at
Kates Irish Pub in Springfield, Virginia. This venue was more suitable and James quickly

found himself and took charge of his sets and began delivering smooth and consistent
performances. They also worked on their new 12-song albums after selecting some exciting
songs from Pata del Lobo Musics catalog. James finished creating and mixing most of the
tracks, some of which includes his talented fiddling friend, Michael Romans. Incidentally,
the two songs James originally picked for his Single, Me and My Sad Self and Or You
Can Tell Her That Youre Sorry will be on his new album! Like I said, the youngun is
resolute and he sorted those songs out to everyones mutual satisfaction! The rest of tracks
will be completed during his semester breaks and the vocals will be added sometime over the
winter or early 2014. Hang onto your hats, cause the music alone is a toe-tappin kneeslappin treat!
The highlight of the summer was on Sunday, 11 August 2013 when James and Mike did a
guest performance on Brenda Weitzel & Bert Husers gig [mikes long-time music friends] at
the Electric Palm in Woodbridge, Virginia overlooking the Occoquan River. From this
sprang a second DVD featuring James and Mike, and the next night on Monday 12 August
2013, James star shinned brightly as he did a wonderful solo performance at Kates Irish
Pub before backing Mikes set. This was their last performance together before James headed
off to his Freshman Year at James Madison University where hes taking music industry
courses and honing his Percussion and other instrumental skills.
He and Mike met on the Sunday before his 20 August 2013 departure and Mike gave him
some product and promotional material to take with him, and his first official James
Adelsberger poster! He contacted Mike the end of his first week to let us know that he was
settling in and having a good time performing with one of the schools jazz combos and has
already been asked to possibly play lead guitar with his roommates band at an upcoming
country music concert! He kept in contact and we couldnt wait to see how much hed grown
come his first semester break!
The year 2014 began in a whirlwind with Mike and James formulating plans for their new
releases. First and foremost they mutually agreed that it was important to adhere the labels
tradition of producing traditional country sounds. For Mike it was equally important to
present James as a real traditional country artist, and not one of those lets-pretend-were
country wannabes that have been saturating the business with their pop-rock-rap renditions
for so long.
A good traditional country song isnt just about the singer. Mike knew that the instruments
played a role that was equally as important as the singer. It was these combined forces
complimenting each other that gave life to a good song. Keeping that in mind he listened to
James CD Single at least six times a day, particularly paying attention to how James drew
out the heart and soul of Back Home Again.
As Mike once stated, Anyone who calls this song anything but country hasnt got a
damn clue!
James had already laid the tracks to almost half of his album songs in 2013. Mike began a
careful search of his publishing catalog for the remaining songs; ones that would allow James

to exploit and express his keen musical insight to the fullest; songs that would reflect a
modest variety of traditional styles. This was a deliberate attempt to keep everything from
sounding the same yet stay within the albums theme of old time country songs. Beginners
often fall into this rut. They find a song style that works and then consciously seek out
similar songs. Mike admittedly did this early on, but thanks to the blunt honesty on one of
his good friends and hunting buddy who told him, I like your songs but they all sound the
same, he quickly grew out of it.
Certain that James could handle the tasks he turned his young co-producer loose and pretty
much gave him a free rein on the music tracks, with two conditions; keep it country, and go
easy on the drums.
Mike has a very strong aversion to drums in his music. He feels theyre over-used,
particularly in country music. The loud bang, bang, bang drives him up a wall because it
drowns out the rest of the instruments and often makes the singer shout to be heard. Drums
were also scorned by a lot of early country artists and at one time even the Grand Ole Opry
refused to allow them onstage, with a select few exceptions.
Bob Dean was a Nashville session musician who played drums on Mikes first recording
session in 1981. Although he knew how to approach each song and did a great job on each,
thereafter during his Nashville recording years, Mike would not allow drums, with one
exception. Jim Stanton of Rich-R-Tone Records [Mikes mentor] persuaded him to let his
grandson Dana Patton play on one of his songs; Heres to Jim and Tammy [Bakker] Bang,
bang, bang! need I say more.
Although he is very accomplished on a number of instruments, as his recordings show,
James instruments of choice are the percussion and drums. Not only is he session musician
material, music is in his DNA.
In the interim he had James rehearsing specific songs that covered James vocal range, along
with a few that were just a little outside of his comfort zone. A major drawback was that
James was attending JUM College about 100 miles from home. Getting home on weekends
wasnt a guaranteed thing and holidays were painfully divided between family, local friends,
and band shows. But they managed and things began to take shape. Mike had selected the
rest of the songs and began preparing lyric sheets and demos to be tracked.
On 4 February 2014, RCD45-SMP5 Roughshod Records CD Sampler No.5 was released. It
featured six songs that James had already laid the tracks for in 2013. Liquid Hell Or You
Can Tell Her That Youre Sorry and Anybody Here Love a Nut? featuring James, and
Old Lovesick Fool The Day Hank Williams Died and Corner of the Bar featuring
Mike. Hundreds of these would be distributed as freebies locally and on Mikes road trips.
This was followed up on 10 February 2014 with RCD46-PRE10022014, a Pre-Release
Song Previews CD featuring James and Mike performing the full length versions of the
RCD45 Sampler songs. These went to DJs, magazines, select music venues, fans, friends,
and prior customers, with encouragement to provide feedback.
With school out, their summer became quite busy with one and sometimes two vocal
sessions a week. The sessions were also videoed and James was given a copy of each of them
to study and help him improve. During the sessions he also had James get into the character

of each song by role playing. At times this got downright silly as they adlibbed and
mercilessly butchered songs every which way but loose. But the end result was eventually
accomplished. James inhibitions dissipated and he began owning his songs.
On the serious side, however, one song both were determined to nail was Me and My Sad
Self a song that James had picked in 2012 for his Single. It proved a bit too much for the
fledgling singer at the time so they decided to shelve it. A lot of time would be spent working
on this one because Mike saw it as a key to building James vocal confidence and helping
him draw out the feelings and emotions needed for this and the other songs. Because of this
Mike chose to concentrate on finishing James album first, because he knew that it wouldnt
take half as much time to finish his own. Those silly sessions of role playing as a bumbling,
word slurring, drunkard, paid off and James delivered his grandparents favorite song.
James eventually managed to synchronize work, home and his rock band schedules with his
label duties, while Mike assigned UPC barcodes, ISRC numbers, Neilsen/SoundScan
registrations, and the CD cover and liner layouts and graphics. Nor did he let up on listening
to all of James vocals over and over to make sure the vocals and music complimented each
other. But the best part of all was James announcing that he would be attending a local
college, GMU, instead of returning to JMU in the Fall.
On 23 July 2014 James Pre-Release album, RCD47A-23072014PR Old Time Country
Songs was released. It contained 12 songs that he and Mike had mutually accepted and
approved for his official release. It sounded real good, and again it was distributed to a select
few. Mike had finally selected the rest of the songs for his album and James got busy on
tracks. While that was occurring Mike released his Pre-Release album RCD48-17082014PR
Doggone It Ive Written A Sad Song Again on 17 August 2014, containing 8 songs that
James had tracked in 2013. This included only one yodeling song, Let Me Die In A Honky
Tonk which would not make the official production because Mike felt that his yodeling
voice was too scratchy. Two other songs would also be shelved for a future production,
Cockco Doodle Doo and Me and My Friend Jack. The latter song is actually the original
version of James cut Me and My Sad Self and Mike didnt want any unfair comparisons to
rain unfavorably on James parade. Both CDs were enthusiastically received both physically
and via digital uploads. A number of video clips of the boys rehearsing their songs and
having a little fun were posted on Mikes Youtube channel.
Around September 2014 James was nearly done with the rest of Mikes tracks.
Unfortunately their hot shot fiddler Micheal Romans had gone back to college and Mike
didnt get him on all of his remaining tracks. James mentioned he had a friend who might be
able to fill-in, though she was nowhere as good as Mike, who incidentally is a Violinist.
Reluctantly Mike allowed James to give her a try. Long story short, she left James hanging
three times, before he told Mike. She had agreed to do the fill-ins in exchange for James
helping her father with a back yard construction project. In the process James hurt his back.
Tell her shes done! was Mikes response. You should have dropped her. It was obvious
by her excuses that she never intended on keeping her word, and he told James to do the fillins himself. Mike had wanted to replace three songs from his pre-release CD with some
fiddle friendly songs; Sittin In a Truck Stop Down in Georgia and a couple of drinking

songs, Do You Wanna Get Drunk and Fool Around and Chug-A-Lug Another One. As
usual, James worked his magic on the fill-ins and the fiddle wasnt really missed. Very
pleased Mike gave James free rein on Pain! Pain! Pain! his country blues songs. Anyone
who has worked with, or attempted to work with Mike knows that he doesnt tolerate
pretentious people! Hell drop you in a heartbeat!
Mike was also having a minor problem finding some of his spots on a couple of songs and
asked James to review and correct them. It turned out that both had erred regarding the use of
the demos and lyric sheets. Sometimes Mike didnt deliver the updated lyric sheet or right
demo and sometimes James wasnt always using the demo to track the song. But this also led
to their first co-write.
When asked about the glitch on a particular song, James said he listened to the demo once
to get the feel then just used the lyric sheet. So Mike decided to throw in another learning
lesson. He sent James a lyric sheet with chord symbols and asked him to track it. Only he
forgot that James had a copy of Mikes entire demo catalog and the clever young musician
looked up the demo and did a great job tracking the song accordingly. Though he still wasnt
sure what Mike was up to. Mike put him on hold and searched his catalog again and found
Could Be the Whiskey Talkin a recently written one [inspired by a comment James make
about a college party] that he was sure that James didnt have a demo of. Just to be sure, he
checked his out-going emails to James and sent him the lyric sheet with chord symbols.
[Mike has nearly 100 email folders for different contacts in which he saves important
incoming and outgoing emails]
It took James about a week to come up with tracks for Whiskey Talkin for which he also
provided rough vocals. He noted that he had a little difficulty coming up with exact music
because he didnt have an audio demo of the song. He had made his best guess based on the
chord symbols and what he knew about Mikes style. [almost as well as Mike] Mike then
pointed out why it was so important to follow the demo. First and foremost, since he didnt
write the song he had to guess at the music, even though he only had chord symbols and no
music notations. He then informed him that a lot of studios make part of their income
tracking songs for others. If there was a disparity between the demo and the lyric sheet it was
common practice for the studio to contact the writer and set things right before proceeding.
Mike also told James that he liked his version better, that he should consider it their first
co-write, that it would be added to his album, and registered with the Copyright Office listing
both of them as the songs owners. A very enthusiastic James corrected the other tracks!
Most of October 2014 was spent doing quality control. They evaluated both albums as a
whole and each song individually. They picked out the weak spots and even rehearsed each
others songs, several of which on both CDs were re-recorded. Finally convinced that both
were ready for production, they set the release date for November 2014. They then worked
on their track order and James cleaned each track. Mike worked on the graphics for the CD
covers, liners, labels, and then the arduous task of assigning UPC Barcodes, ISRC numbers,
and registering them with Neilsen/SoundScan. Mike also continued to listen to each album at
various hours of the day under various conditions right up until pressing time, just to be sure.

His view is that people sometimes listen but dont hear, and sometimes hear but dont listen.
He told James that he reviewed songs by first sitting alone with his eyes closed and all
distractions turned off. This allowed him to not only hear, but also feel the song. But
sometimes you can over-listen and miss things. Next he would listen while doing various
chores. If the song distracted him from what he was doing, nine times out of ten, something
was wrong.
James picked his album photo from a group that Mike had encouraged him to take. One of
those photos also ended up on the cover of his first sheet music, Anybody Here Love A
Nut? Mikes cover photo was taken during their August 2013 guest appearance at the
Electric Palm Restaurant in Occoquan, Virginia. James best friend Brian Donovan used
Mikes camera to shoot the entire event and Mike cropped the image.
On 15 November 2014 Roughshod Records released its 49th and 50th CDs. RCD4915112014-1 Old Time Country Songs Are They Really Dead and Gone? [13-songs]
featuring James Adelsberger, and RCD50-15112014-2 Doggone It Ive Written A Sad Song
Again [12-songs] featuring Mike Johnson. James played all the instruments, created the
music tracks, and wrote the scores for his friend Michael Romans who provided the excellent
fiddling.
James 13-song line-up features Riversong an adrenaline pumping, white water excursion
written by James and fiddling by Michael Romans. The rest of the songs were written by
Mike Johnson, including two co-writes, Could Be the Whiskey Talkin with James, and
Liquid Hell a hard driving moonshine song with lyrics co-written by Leo Maimone. James
and Mike did some toe-tapping upbeat duets on Anybody Here Love A Nut? and yodeling
Your Old Lady Strut. James touch on Sweet Abilene Or You Can Tell Her That
Youre Sorry and Doctor! Doctor! will have you dancing in your seat. However, Mike
considers the meat and taters that glue this release together is how James captures that
genuine traditional sound on Are They Really Dead and Gone? Me and My Sad Self
Bad Whiskey Bad Sex and Bad Men and Barrooms and Bedrooms. Were pretty sure
that Hank, Lefty, George Jones and Roger Miller are sittin in Hillbilly Heavens front row
seats grinnin like possums.
Mike's 12-song release reflects the types of traditional country he listened to during the
1950s and 1960s. No yodeling on this one, for which Mike is well known. And not all sad
songs either like "The Day Hank Williams Died" and "Home For Sunday Supper." There's
are sad themes and some light-hearted fun with "Isn't Goofy Something At All?" and "ChugA-Lug Another One" a duet with him and James, and also a reflection of Roger Miller's
influence. As usual, Mike Romans shines with his fiddling. The country blues song "Pain!
Pain! Pain! was right up James alley and he nailed it.
Stoked and all fired up over the new releases, James suggested they do a Christmas CD as
well. Given the amount of work that would be needed to promote and distribute their new
releases, it just wasnt feasible. But all was not lost and they compromised and settled on a

limited edition Christmas Single. Two things happened. One, Mike found two humorous
Christmas themed songs that he had wanted to release for years. And two, You and Me
Records would have its first release! The label was created in June 1987 for his non-country
songs at the same time as Mike created Roughshod Records and You and Me Music
Publishing. However, songs from the publishing catalog found their way onto Roughshod
Record with a country twist. Put Out the Fire in the Fireplace and Ho! Ho! Ho! were
selected and James got to work immediately and whipped out the tracks in no time. Mutually
deciding they had worked very hard on their albums they decided it was time to have some
fun and do a duet on both songs! As thus You and Me Records first release, a CD Single
called SideKicks Christmas Special [YAMR1-S04122014] co-produced by Mike Johnson
and James Adelsberger was released on 4 December 2014.
Mike informed his friend Janet McKee at the Recorded Sound Reference Center at the
Library of Congress that the new CDs were finally ready and she said I cant wait and they
set a date. He then informed James of the date and prepared the package and his cameras and
on 18 December 2014 they went over to the Library of Congress Recorded Sound Reference
Center to present the newest additions to the Librarys Mike Johnson music collection. James
and Janet met for the first time and the historic presentation of the labels 49 th & 50th CDs
along with You and Me Records first release was videoed for prosperity. Also delivered were
a copy of James sheet music folio Anybody Here Love A Nut? and two official James
Adelsberger portraits. Patricia Baughman, who works in the attached Performing Arts
Reading Room, which has Mikes music books, was busy processing her retirement papers.
But she made it in time for the final photo session. A video of the Librarys newest
acquisition
is
also
posted
on
Mike
Johnsons
Youtube
Channel.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_kVjiumqXk
Mikes songs have been airing on radio stations since his first release in 1981. Many DJs
and radio stations have come and gone, and along the way Mike made friends with a number
of them. As mentioned, James got his first radio airplay on Cowboy Werners Radio Sound
of Heaven show in Germany for his CD Single Back Home Again. Since then those songs
and songs from his new CD have aired on many more stations, including; [1]Alex Pijnens
Country Programa Saloon in the Netherlands; [2]Ashley McMillens Hitkicker Home
Grown Hour 99.7 in Charlottesville, Virginia; [3]Daniel Millars Go Country With Derek
in North Lanarkshire, Scotland; [4]Doc Schulzes Country-Time Radio Euroherz in Hof,
Germany; [5]Donald Burdick Jrs CMG Radio Variety Show in Gallatin, Tennessee;
[6]Hank Edwards Country Radio OMCRN Network in Oak Hill, West Virginia; [7]Ian
Parrs Country Music Show 98.8 Castle FM in Scotland; [8]John Andersons Country
Music DK Radio in Middelfart, Denmark; [9]Joy Kimmells Songs of Joy Go Country
With Derek in Mossistown, Tennessee; [10]Julie & Dave Mathesons Country Campfire
Icarna Radio in Tasmania, Australia; [11]Kurt Gabriels Archangel Country Club ECMARadio in Austria; [12]Nicole Trudels The Country Gold Jukebox Ontario, Canada;
[13]Noel Parrys Country Express in Invercargill, New Zealand; [14]Patrick Molis IDFM
Radio Enghien in Montmorency, France; [15]Patty Patricks Newcomer Platform Radio
Florian am Inn in Austria; [16]Pete Smiths Strictly Country Independent Country Cross

Roads in South Yorkshire, England; [17]Trudy Burkes Make Mine Country 88.9 WYNFM Radio in Victoria, Australia; and [18]Winnie Hansens Wins Country and Gospel
Music WHPR Radio 101.1FM in Denmark.
Needless to say, the label is very proud of James and the effort that he put into helping
Roughshod Records reach its 50th CD mark! What a great way to end 2014!
But lookout 2015! James is turning heads and people who know real country music are
acknowledging that this gifted 20-year old as a real country artist.
Bob Everhart writing for Tradition Magazine in Anita, Iowa, stated in part, a "...incredibly
'country' country CD..." and goes on to state that his CD "...is not only above board pure
country music, it's a reflection of the really good abilities of James, from vocals to every
single instrument used in the session, as well as his incredible production ear which is
phenomenal..."
Ed King writing for Entertainment News in Santa Fe, Texas stated in part "...A 13-song
remarkable CD album... My overall impression is that this young man should have been
doing this 50 years ago when Traditional style music was in style. James would have been
rated with such greats as Ernest Tubb, Roger Miller and the long lists of famous artists we
have lost..."
Though the country music world of the last two decades has been stuffed with pop-rockrap, pretentious country music, rest assured that Executive Producer Mike Johnson and CoProducer James Adelsberger definitely know how to keep the 'Country' in the music!
Cant get any better than that! So far weve got at least two Instrumental albums and a
James Adelsberger Songbook lined up. James Adelsberger, country music artist, musician,
studio engineer, co-producer, and most definitely, an All-Around Musician!
2015 Roughshod Records P.O. Box 100933 Arlington Va. 22210 * All Rights Reserved
Photograph 2013 Mike Johnson * All Rights Reserved

Footnote:
All available Roughshod Records CDs can be viewed and purchased at the Music Listening
Room on the labels official website, and a select few from their official Web Store page with
just the click of a button.
Roughshod Records: http://roughshodrecords.webs.com
James Adelsberger & Mike Johnson Youtube Playlist at:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLzNWcLPAzHyLyzBx9YlSCznliO1rDV9PQ

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