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James Apollo

American musician and songwriter

Correspondence, annotated notebooks and portrait silhouettes prepared for research
People and ideasInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionApr 14, 2026
Entity authorityQ6128794
Source-derived summary

James Apollo (born December 25, 1982) is an American singer, bandleader and producer. He was born in Northwest Arkansas and spent formative years in Minneapolis, San Francisco, New York City and Tennessee. He currently lives and works out of Los Angeles.

The Scotsman dubbed Apollo "King of the Road", in regards to a young life of touring. He is best known for creating emotionally textured soundscapes, often gaining musical and lyrical citations to William Faulkner, Tom Waits, and classic sounds of the West. According to Allmusic, "Apollo's broken, bluesy tenor moans out his tale of broken hearts and substance abuse". His songs have been featured in a number of independent films, including the feature, "Sun Dogs" and award winning film 38 témoins

Members

Current

James Apollo – vocals

Jack Chandelier – percussion

Matt Palin – bass

Ben Obee – bass, vocals

John Thomlinson – organ

Lauren Trew – reeds

Scott Morning – brass

Background

After touring the USA for several years, Apollo was picked up by Marterry Records, which released the debut, "Til Your Feet Bleed."

First touring Europe with then Brooklyn band Grizzly Bear, James Apollo was invited by Tom Robinson to perform live on the BBC. This led to numerous radio appearances, and a live television session on Channel M in Manchester, gaining the singer a wide audience throughout the UK. He has since continued performing in both the United States and the UK.

Apollo released his UK debut album Till Your Feet Bleed on the Marterry label. The album gained positive reaction from the press. Mojo awarded the album four (out of five) stars. "A record that's shrouded in nocturnal melancholy, the singer-songwriter presiding over its dark delights with both a ghoulish air of danger and a charming fragility".

Editorial summary

Begin with the source’s own compact description: “James Apollo” is american musician and songwriter. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through James, Apollo and American, not as a finished interpretation.

Editorial reviewA productive starting point for separating a subject’s documented career from later reputation and commemoration. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1982—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1984-12-25. For this dossier, James, Apollo and American is the immediate research focus.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The phrase “american musician and songwriter” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.

Evidence profile

Chronology provides the most reliable spine for this subject; interpretation should follow only after identities and dates are secure. The source revision retrieved here is dated Apr 14, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q6128794. VIAF identifies the subject as 305232993. The Library of Congress control number is no2010160546. 4 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1982.

Critical limits

A concise life account rarely captures disputed attribution, private networks or the changing language used to describe a career. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.

Best used for
  • Establishing names and roles
  • Building a first chronology
  • Locating cited institutions
Verify next

Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “James Apollo”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow James Apollo primary sources, James Apollo archive and James research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “James Apollo”?
  2. Which primary records establish identity, chronology and institutional ties?
  3. How has the subject’s reputation changed across later accounts?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from James Apollo” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.