James was born in Rexburg, Idaho, and is the ninth of ten children. He has two brothers and seven sisters. At 6’4″, he is the tallest member of Eclipse 6. Throughout junior high and high school, James was heavily involved in band, performing with the Concert, Symphonic, Jazz, Marching, and even Honor band. He plays the trumpet, euphonium, bagpipes, harmonica, and guitar.
After high school, James served an LDS mission in Vancouver, Canada (he’s fluent in Canadian, eh?) Upon his return, his “a cappella quest” began at Ricks College in 2002. He joined the A Cappella Club, which later led him to join a group called “Tongue Tied.” Over the next 5 years he performed with Tongue Tied throughout the western states and, in 2006, the group won the Pacific Northwest Regional of the Harmony Sweepstakes (the same competition Eclipse 6 had won 5 years before). They also were named audience favorite.
During that same time period, James moved from Rexburg to Logan, then Logan to Ogden. His hobbies include snowboarding, skiing, mountain biking, tennis, ping pong, hiking, Foosball, travel, photography, sudoku, and cruising around on his Kawasaki KLR 650.
