His songs cover a wide range of influences, including Wilco, Jeff Buckley, Sparklehorse, Matthew Sweet and Daniel Johnston. He tends toward power pop rock elements, but sometimes, other genres emerge unexpectedly (whether the guitars are loud or the piano is soft). James has been making his own records since releasing Deathless in 2005, then under the moniker Automatic Pilot. As a solo artist, he toured as a folk punker in 2007 as James Eric, playing a variety of house shows from Chicago all the way to Maine. In 2010, along with Luke Morris he co-founded CLLCT a now-defunct community of DIY musical artists who uploaded everything they recorded at home entirely for free. Around the mid-2010s, James began to focus on recording as a form of therapy. Lately, James has been recording a variety of cover songs for fun and hosting a movie podcast and an interview podcast. In 2020, James put together an extensive collection of 70 Wilco / Jeff Tweedy cover songs in order to provide donations to local music venues during the pandemic. "Just A Fan: A Tribute To Jeff Tweedy & Wilco" sold around 150 copies. In May 2021, he plans to release a new full-length album entitled Hi Anxiety. This album marks a return to his roots, featuring tips of the hat to the emotionally raw music he made about 15 years ago. Hi Anxiety might be the record that James wanted to make since the very beginning. Please support this artist.