McKin­ley James, hail­ing from Rochester, New York, and lat­er set­tling in Nashville with his fam­i­ly, was des­tined to become a musi­cian with a name like McKin­ley, after the leg­endary Mud­dy Waters (McKin­ley Mor­gan­field). Grow­ing up as the son of Jason Smay, the drum­mer for the JD McPher­son band, only rein­forced his musi­cal roots at an ear­ly age, explain­ing why, despite his youth, McKin­ley James already exudes the essence of a sea­soned ​“blues vet­er­an”.

At the ten­der age of sev­en, McKin­ley took to the Ham­mond, and a few years lat­er, he tran­si­tioned to the gui­tar. His pas­sion for music led him to per­for­mances at var­i­ous blues and jazz clubs around Rochester, where his com­mit­ment was so pro­found that he even skipped his high school grad­u­a­tion for a per­for­mance. McKin­ley’s musi­cal style can be best described as a fusion of Stax and Motown Soul, inter­wo­ven with the blues influ­ences of Mag­ic Sam and Otis Rush.

Team­ing up with his father on drums, McKin­ley James brings his musi­cal prowess to Ospel, promis­ing a per­for­mance that is noth­ing short of a musi­cal hur­ri­cane. Get ready to be swept away by the soul­ful blues of this young and extra­or­di­nary tal­ent.

• Website
• YouTube
• Spotify
• Instragram
• Facebook