Eliott James has released a new music collection, "Eliott James EP". Four of the five songs on "EP" were written by James, plus he performs the classic JJ Cale tune, "Sensitive Kind." His style crosses the boundaries of contemporary folk into acoustic rock, with an emotional warmth and depth in the lyrics and instrumentation that makes his songs intimate. His expressive voice is up front and center, and he uses acoustic guitars, acoustic bass, piano, dumbek and other instruments to intricately weave around his lyrics. His website, www.eliottjames.com, features photos from his long career, lyrics, and the story of writing the songs. He is also a published poet, photographer (his poems and photos are on his site) and the author of three books which have been published in three languages. 10/2/2004: Eliott James is making all his compositions from his new collection. "Eliott James EP" available for free downloads. ("Sensitive Kind" by JJ Cale is on the new collection but not available for free download due to distribution arrangements.) A reminder: all Eliott James' songs are copyrighted and downloads are for personal use only. Anyone wishing to perform or record his songs should contact EJ directly at his website for rights and permissions. His songs are tracked through BMI. From EJ: Music is so hard to describe. It might be easier to say what the CD is not... it's not a polished studio sound. It doesn't sound like what's on the radio, even the stations that play contemporary folk music. And I like those sounds, and many different types of music, as well. What I've done is borrowed an organic, roots sound and put that on some ballads. Very little of the tried and true methods of recording and mixing were used, it was more of turn on the recorder and capture what was happening. Same with the mixing. It's simply what I wanted these songs to sound like at this time. Unpolished, more of a natural sound, like the listener is in the room when I play, but it's not a "live" sound either. Each song is different but they each maintain a raw, even an edgy acoustic sound on some of the songs, which is what I wanted. It's an artistic choice. I'm a songwriter and a performer and a sound creator, that's the way I think of it.