Joshua James released his new album Build Me This in September to excellent reviews. In his review of James’ album when it was XPN’s Featured Album recently, XPN’s Mike Vasilikos said: “singer-songwriter Joshua James may be more an artist than he is simply a musician. As you listen to his new album it’s evident that his compositions take shape more as musical portraits than just plain songs. Noticeable from the start is that James has no tolerance for simplicity. And at the same time, James seems unwilling to compromise his full vision. Each song is executed remarkably; from the instrumentation to the production to the songwriting James stresses every nuance.”

This week Joshua takes over the XPN blog with some notes from the field, where he is currently on tour through the end of November.

Every time that I get on a plane I accept the fact that I might die.
I say to myself “this might be the day that you die”.
And then I board the plane.
This was the case when leaving for Japan.
We had driven all night to make it to Boston,
Which is where our flight was leaving for Tokyo.
Early morning.
We boarded the plane and strapped ourselves into
The largest plane I had ever had the pleasure of being in.
But it was terribly frightening at the same time.
Hundreds of people flying over the Pacific ocean, just accepting the fact
That today just might be the day that the oversized hunk of metal that we
Were trusting our lives with might just decide to give out and plunge into the ocean.
But…it didn’t happen.
Thank goodness.
We arrived, unharmed.
TOKYO was amazing.
The first show we did was at the foot of Mt. Fuji. It was a festival called
Asagiri Jam. Spirits were high. We were elevated by the enthusiasm of the crowd.
But we don’t speak Japanese. No worries, no need, they loved it anyhow.
We were happy for it.
The guys that put on the festival decided to take us out for dinner.
An experience to remember.
We had to take off our shoes.
I loved that.
We sat down at a table that came to my shins,
Crosslegged, and a bit uncomfortable to be honest.
The food began to arrive.
It started with a small cup of cut up jellyfish.
I was a novice when it came to this dish, but I was delighted to try.
Next was a beef intestine dish mixed with fresh onions.
Delicious.
A fresh pasta came third, followed by one of the best green salads I have ever had.
I didn’t know when the food would stop coming.
Fifth on the nights evergoing meal was raw horse meat.
….raw horse meat!
I was getting nervous, it looked like slabs of clotted blood and cartilage.
But I was in Tokyo, and I didn’t die on the way over, so I had been lucky.
I had to try the horse, it was a must they said!
So I did…not bad, but not my favorite.
Last on the menu was a full plate of sashimi sushi.
For those who have not eaten much sushi, sashimi is INTENSE.
It is full thick slabs of raw fish with no rice, just fish.
It wasn’t the best note to end on our dinner but it was fine.
The night was over, and we had been in Tokyo for three days.
Two days left.
We walked through the amazingly electric streets of downtown.
Tokyo made NYC look like Lincoln, Nebraska.
It was incredible how many people there were at all times of the day.
We visited the emperors palace, and all the other “hot spots” that the
Tokyo for dummies recommended to us.
The food was incredible.
The people even more so.
It was a bittersweet feeling leaving Tokyo.
The plane ride went a bit quicker back to Boston.
But we made it.
Safe
Sound
Blissful and Blessed.
This is truly a dream.
And we are happy to be having it.

Joshua & The Great Northplatte