James Gedeon

Smoky Mountains Songwriters Festival, James Gedeon, Songwriter, SMSWF, Gatlinburg TNUpon arriving in New York in the late 1980s, James Gedeon immediately began honing his craft in the Greenwich Village music scene in storied venues like The Village Gate, The Back Fence and The Red Lion.  It wasn’t long before he began developing a reputation as a singer and songwriter who was able to make even individuals in the farthest reaches of a venue feel as though they were right up front.

Since those early days of paying his musical dues, James has performed at some of New York’s most notable address, including LeCirque; The Rainbow Room at Rockefeller Center, Trump National Golf Course in Westchester and The Waldorf Astoria Grand Ballroom where he was part of the opening band for Dan Aykroyd and the Blues Brothers at The Alzheimer’s Foundation’s annual fundraiser. James has also been able to take his music to areas outside of New York City and the United States. He has performed in Washington D.C. at the Smithsonian; The Harvard Club in Boston; in West Virginia at the world renowned Greenbrier Resort; the Rocky Mountain resort of Flathead Lake in Kalispell, Montana; Mauna Kea Resort in Kailua Kona, Hawaii; The Ocean Club on Paradise Island in the Bahamas and even performed for the King and Queen at the Royal Palace in Morocco.

James has also taken the stage at Pebble Beach in California, where he provided an opening acoustic set for comedian Jerry Seinfeld’s performance to an audience that included Clint Eastwood.  Throughout the years, James has also provided opening sets for Jay Leno, Livingston Taylor, Dana Carvey and The Marshall Tucker Band.

A personal highlight came when James performed for the wedding of radio personality Howard Stern to model Beth Ostrosky at LeCirque. During the ceremony, James accompanied Dixie Chicks lead singer Natalie Maines on the couple’s wedding song and followed that up by performing 3 duets with music legend Billy Joel, including Joel’s classic “You’re My Home”.  During the same event, James and the band also accompanied Train front man Pat Monahan for Train’s mega hits “Drops of Jupiter” and “Calling All Angels” before backing up singer Phoebe Snow on a string of Motown classics with John Stamos on drums for an audience that included Donald Trump, Barbara Walters, Jimmy Kimmel, Joan Rivers and Tommy Mottola.

James’ latest CD, “My Saving Grace” was released in the Fall of 2017, and he is already in the studio mixing a new CD to be released later in 2018.  Most recently, his single “Might As Well Be Me” was nominated for Recording of The Year by the Tennessee Songwriters Association International (TSAI), and he’s had 3 singles from the upcoming CD reach #1 on the streaming music site “NumberOneMusic”.  August of 2018 also has James slated as one of the featured songwriters performing at the Smoky Mountains Songwriters Festival in Gatlinburg, Tennessee.