Morning Star Staff
For the seventh time in two years, 23-year-old songwriter James Struthers will head out on a Canadian tour.
However, this tour is a little different, as this time people will be familiar with Struthers’ music thanks to some serious radio airplay. His 50-plus date national tour stretches from Vancouver Island to Halifax, and stops in Vernon Saturday at Gallery Vertigo.
With his deep blue eyes, disarming smile and cool, calm demeanor, Struthers may be a 23-year-old heartthrob, but his allure goes far beyond the sightlines.
He’s also an incredibly gifted songwriter and guitarist with a soulful voice and a young, aspiring business man with a relentless, DIY work ethic.
“Nothing worth doing in life comes easy, but it doesn’t feel like work to me,” says Struthers.
“I feel very lucky that I’ve found what I love in life, and even more lucky that I wake up every morning and get to do it.”
After being selected as the Bell Media Emerging Artist for April 2012, Struthers’ new tune, What Are We Waiting For, went into rotation on Bell Media and CHUM radio stations across the country.
All of a sudden, his Facebook profile was flooded with positive comments from people all over the country who had heard the song,
Struthers, in his typical modest style, responded to the so-called “inflated comments,” but the radio charts proved his success.
Prior to releasing What Are We Waiting For, Struthers released a holiday-themed single, Blue Christmas, which hit the top 10 on the national adult contemporary radio charts.
His cover version of the song, popularized by Elvis Presley, peaked at No. 8 in December 2011, putting the Winnipeg musician in the radio charting ranks of artists like Jason Mraz, John Mayer and Jack Johnson –– musicians he is often compared to.
YouTube fans have also been drawn to his music. Struthers’ recent video for his Transformers-inspired, self-written song You, Me and Optimus Prime has almost 200,000 YouTube views. The video was also recently featured by famed radio host Alan Cross, and gadget news site, Gizmodo (one of the Top 50 most visited websites in the world.)
Struthers has released two EPs and four music videos in less than two years and is managed by Western Canadian Music Awards Producer of the Year, Arun Chaturvedi.
Saturday’s performance at Gallery Vertigo, #1-3001-31st St. starts at at 7 p.m. Tickets are $10 in advance and $15 at door.
