James Kevin Willis was born in Bellevue, WA and began his musical training sometime between birth and the age of 10. He doesn't really know for sure. The point is, he doesn't remember a time in his life without music. Through his young life, music became more and more of a passion until at the age of 18 he left home in Washington and set out for a magical land called L.A. It was in the very dirty and inhospitable city of Azusa that James encountered the master cello teacher Stan Sharp. Stan taught James how to rock the cello in a way that very few can. Together they developed a style of cello playing called "sexy cello" or, for our Spanish speaking friends, "el cello de sexo". Many have assumed that James emerged from the womb with a guitar in his hands because he looks so SO good while playing it. Sadly, this is a myth that must be dispelled. James has, in fact, played the guitar just as long as the cello, but did not begin serious study of the instrument until just after attaining his BM degree from Azusa Pacific University. He currently studies with Brandon Berenstien, an incredibly talented guitar player who just graduated from USC.
James is now playing cello with the Amber Melody band, and doing occaisional spots with Jeremy Adamiak (a phenom folk artist), Joel Ceballos (a pop rock act), and has his own project called The Willis Project. James has recently begun to explore his talents as a producer and found that he's actually quite good at it. Examples of all this work can be found here on the interweb at this very site. Sorry ladies, James is very happily married to the perfect woman for him, Kaylie Willis and is very, very happy about it. All said and done, the best news of all is that James is available for hire as a cellist, guitarist, or producer, and would love to hear from you for any possible collaborative opportunities! Cheers!
