James Charles Howard Jr.  is an American guitarist and singer-songwriter, known for his Blues-Rock live bands and five CD’s of eclectic originals and instrumental music.

In 2012, Howard won “Best Blues Guitarist” in Lee Ritenour’s Global Guitar Contest, with applicants submitting from 49 countries. The contest was sponsored by Yamaha, Monster Cables, and D' Addario Strings.

The James Howard Band is a two-time winner of the Washington Blues Society’s blues band contest. In 2016 and 2024, the band traveled to Memphis Tennessee to compete in the International Blues Challenge with bands from all over the world, advancing to the semi-finals in 2024.

In 1996 Howard made it to the finals of The Jimi Hendrix Electric Guitar Contest, sponsored by Guitar Player Magazine and Fender Guitars and Amps. At the finals in San Francisco, Howard met and shook the hand of Al Hendrix, Jimi’s father.

Howard has played venues from BB King’s Blues Club in LA to the Triple Door Theater in Seattle. Based in the Bay Area in the 80’s and 90’s, Howard relocated to Seattle in 2001. Known as a music town, Howard found fertile ground in Seattle, where he has flourished as band leader, sideman, and studio guitarist.

In 1998, Howard released his first studio CD, Electric Rain, in 1998.

In a review of Electric Rain, in “Rock and Blues News” magazine Howard was described as:

“… a Jimi Hendrix on guitar with John Lennon’s voice and vision … a songwriter with great depth.”

In a live review by Music Connection Magazine of a performance at the BB King’s Blues club in Los Angeles, in 1999, it was written of Howard:

“…he mixes the intensity of Stevie Ray with the passion of Hendrix and plays some of the meanest blues this side of the Mississippi.”

Howard has released five CD’s Electric Rain- 1998

Celebrate Life- 2008

Live in Seattle- 2010

Devachan- 2015

For The Love Of Song-2016

The current James Howard Band includes Kevin Cook on drums, Jack Dolan on bass and Jim Barnes on keys. James Howard’s music is available on all the major streaming platforms.

Booking Contact [email protected]

206-250-7494

“Guitarist extraordinaire… animated, energetic, and intense performance…  a breathtaking exhibition…   pushed the crowd to the edges of their seats…  simply awesome”. – Live reviews editor from Music Connection Magazine in LA wrote this about James in a review of a performance at BB King’s Blues Club in Hollywood in 1999

“Howard is tougher to categorize than you might think- sort of a Jimi Hendrix on guitar with John Lennon’s voice and vision… a songwriter with great depth” – Lee Cotton from Rock and Blues News Magazine reviewed the Howard’s first all originals CD: Electric Rain CD

In 2024 The James Howard Band won the WA Blues Society’s International Blues Challenge Finals for the 2nd time since 2016, earning the opportunity represent the WA Blues Society in Memphis in January 2024, where the JHB made it to the semi-finals.

Howard is no stranger to winning international music contests. In 2012, Howard “Best Blues Guitarist” for the Six String Theory Global Guitar Competition with applicants submitting from 49 countries world-wide.

http://www.youtube.com/ JamesHowardBand

http://www.facebook.com/ JamesHowardMusic

https://www.instagram.com/ jameshowardmusic/

https://jameshoward2.bandcamp.com/

Venues Performed At

Client List

Moon-Fest
Sheryl Wolover (Quilence, Washington)

National Lentil Festival
National Lentil Festival (Pullman, Washington)

Blackberry Arts Festival
Coos Bay Downtown Association (Coos Bay, Oregon)

Kitsap Blues Music Festival
(Admiral Theatre Foundation -with- Kitsap Fair and Stampede Association/Bremerton, Washington)

Juan de Fuca Festival of the Arts -and- Dungeness Crab and Seafood Festival
Juan de Fuca Foundation For the Arts (Port Angeles, Washington)

Astoria Warrenton Crab, Seafood & Wine Festival
Astoria-Warrenton Area Chamber of Commerce (Astoria, Oregon)

Portland Rose Festival
Portland Rose Festival Foundation (Portland, Oregon)

Puyallup Farmers’ Market
Puyallup Main Street (Puyallup, Washington)

Salem Saturday Market
Salem Community Markets (Salem, Oregon)

McMillan Farm & Brewhouse
McMillin Farm (Puyallup, Washington)

Edmonds Art Festival
Edmonds Arts Festival Foundation (Edmonds, Washington)

Crossroads Bellevue Market Stage
Crossroads Shopping Center (Bellevue, Washington)

Mt. Rainier Scenic Railroad Steam & Whiskey Excursions
Venues Performed At: Western Forest Industries Museum (Elbe, Washington)

Sultan Summer Shindig
Sky Valley Chamber of Commerce (Sultan, Washington)

BAM Arts Fair
Bellevue Arts Museum (Bellevue, Washington)

Kana Winery
Kana Winery (Yakima, Washington)

Vinbero
Vinbero (Edmonds, Washington)

Blackberry Arts Festival
Coos Bay Downtown Association (Coos Bay, Oregon)

Fox Island Chapel on Echo Bay
Fox Island Chapel Preservation Society (Fox Island, Washington)

The Sportman's Public House
Summer and Michael Schnidrig (Ridgefield, Washington)

The Seasons Performance Hall (Yakima Washington)
The Seasons Music Project (Yakima Washington)

Emerald of Siam
Dara and Billy Quinn (Richland, Washington)

Finnriver Farm & Cidery
Finnriver Farm & Cidery (Chimacum, Washington)

Ankeny Vineyard
Jodie Moore (Salem, Oregon)

Evergreen State Fair
Evergreen State Fair Park (Monroe, Washington)

Clallam County Fair
Clallam County Fair (Port Angeles, Washington)

Marion County Fair
Marion County Fair (Salem, Oregon)

Pigout In The Park
Six Bridges Arts Association (Spokane, Washington)

Rusty Scupper's Pirate Daze
Westport-Grayland Chamber of Commerce (Westport, Washington)

Malheur County Fair
Malheur County Fair (Ontario, Oregon)

Jefferson County Fair
The Jefferson County Fair Association (Port Townsend, Washington)

Washington State Garlic Fest
Southwest Washington Fair (Centralia, Washington)

Skookum Rotary Oysterfest
Shelton Skookum Rotary Club (Shelton, Washington)

TIM's Tavern
Together In Music (TIM's) (Seattle, Washington)

3 Legged Crane Pub and Brewhouse
John Crane (Oakridge, Oegon)

Conway Muse-Arcadian Public House
Thomas Richardson (Conway, Washington)

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