Conversations with Cooper James

Today we’d like to introduce you to Cooper James.

Hi Cooper, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
After moving around the country growing up while my dad was playing in the NFL, my family settled down in 2006 in the small town of Gretna, Nebraska when I was 6 years old. I grew up surrounded by the outdoors and, like most people who grew up similarly, country music. I learned to play on my dad’s guitar when I was 9 years old and quickly picked up all of the songs I’d heard in his pickup growing up. It didn’t take long before I was writing my own tunes and posting videos of me singing them on YouTube starting at age 10.

My music and performance career continued across multiple types of stages and venues as I continued growing up in Gretna. I began playing in the school band and singing in school choirs in middle school and continued on to our high school band, choir, and competitive show choir, as well as taking on lead and supporting roles in all of our school play and musical productions. I have the honor of claiming four state championship titles for one-act play production in Nebraska.

In May of 2016, at age 16, our family home on the outskirts of Gretna was struck by lightning in a massive lightning storm, which started a small electrical fire in the middle of our house(luckily waking us up at the same time). The small fire spread to the rest of the house, and while the six of us were able to escape in time, the rest of the house went down with the flames. This event led to me suffering from a severe PTSD diagnosis and saw the onset of my battles with mental health issues.

In August of 2017, I was hospitalized due to suicidal ideation, and in December of the same year I voluntarily admitted myself to an inpatient rehab facility in Arizona. During my stay, I was treated for Bipolar Disorder as well as PTSD through an array of therapies, one of which being, at the time, an experimental practice called EMDR, or eye movement desensitization and reprocessing. This form of intensive therapy proved monumental in my recovery from PTSD, but severely exacerbated my issues with short and long term memory, of which I am still struggling with the effects of today.

I went to a small liberal arts college in Crete, Nebraska to further my academics on scholarships for theatre, choir, vocal performance, jazz band, and concert band. I spent my free time as part of a multitude of student-led productions as well as an array of shows and events produced by the school. I was enrolled as a Business Administration major with minors in biology and chemistry, which took its place on the back burner as I explored the arts more admirably. A quarter of the way into my sophomore year, I was struggling finding my place in academics at this school, and the arts department was in the middle of severe budget cuts, so I decided to withdraw and find my place at a new school in the spring.

That fall of 2019, I picked up the guitar again and picked up where I left off with country music. I was immediately back in love. Rather than hearing and playing the hit singles of when I was growing up, I unlocked the new desire to deep dive into all of my favorite artists’ catalogues, where they told their stories in a way you wouldn’t usually hear on the radio. I wrote my first song with the intention of releasing, “Teach a Man to Fish”. about and for my dad- and in February 2020, I played it at my first show in my hometown of Gretna, and the rubber hit the road.

Over the next three and a half years I would amass over 500,000 followers across popular social media platforms, both for my music and a POV-sketch comedy page I created during the pandemic(@thefratpresident), released my first 3 singles accumulating to over half a million streams, started playing bars and clubs around the midwest, and opened for a multitude of national artists. In the fall of 2023 I made my move here to Nashville and have been trying to make the most of it, finding ways to tell my story in a way people can relate to, toeing the line between country music and other genres, and becoming a force to be reckoned with as a writer and performer. Though I didn’t truly realize it until much later in my life than most people in town do, I’m right where I need to be, and I love it here!

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
I have been unbelievably blessed with an amazing town to be from, with friends and fans showing up and showing out to so many of my events across the state, and the midwest altogether. I wouldn’t be there without any of them. Like I’m sure any new artist can relate to, finding your place as a creative in a world that prefers today’s hits when they go out to the bars with their friends is incredibly difficult and takes so much time hoping a room full of hundreds of ears will have one or two people that want to hear more of you and from you. Aside from the mental health struggles I’ve endured that are still following me on my heels today, I’ve struggled with feeling alone in a crowded room as an artist with something to say- which, arguably, was the biggest catalyst that propelled my love for Nashville.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I’m country through-and-through, without a doubt, and I love telling my story and creating new stories with three chords behind them, the way country music has embraced since it’s start. However, I love toeing the line. I have so many songs that appeal to your typical country listener but also incorporate lyric phrasing and production that doesn’t fit perfectly into the mainstream- many of my fans have been incredibly vocal about how I produce and write my music, and I’m proud of the way I’m able to take an idea and turn it into a song that lyrically grasps you from the very beginning and carries you through captivating, wavering, changing production, ending with a home-hitting anecdote or change up of the chorus that makes you reevaluate what you’ve heard, and feel like you need to listen again. My music spans across a spectrum bouncing between fans praising through smiles “That was amazing! That was such a fun song!” and shuddering through tears “What the fuck Cooper? I’ve never related to a song more.” The first response is what I hear the most and always brings a smile to my face, but the second is why I get out of bed every day and keeps me going through all of the hardships of being an artist.

How can people work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
In a world overtaken by social media resulting in surface level interactions produced by content catered to people with progressively shortening attention spans(me included- I thoroughly enjoy a good TikTok rot-sesh), I will always be an advocate of showing people music when I’m in the same room as them. Hanging out in our living room, in the car, on a plane, maybe at a party- I find all of these environments to be places I feel the most safe and excited to show people music that I personally resonate with internally. All I could ever ask of someone who enjoys my music is to do the same for me.

Pricing:

• Every event is different and I love all of them! I’m easy to get ahold of directly.

Contact Info:

• Website: linktr.ee/cooperjamesmusic
• Instagram: instagram.com/cooperjamesmusic
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cooperjamesofficial/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@cooperjamesmusic6148