The Maija-James Project

Maija's love of music began as a young child in Minneapolis when she discovered her dad's old R&B 45 records. Wanting to play piano like the boogie woogie piano recordings she favored, she begged her parents for lessons and started at the age of six. The following years through her teens brought piano competitions, trombone playing, being a soloist in choir, and singing and dancing in Glee club. A true free spirit, Maija twice moved on a whim, each time deciding to leave her home state of Minnesota within a matter of days in a gamble of spontaneous decision making. Once to New Orleans, which failed spectacularly (though she still absolutely loves that city), and once to San Francisco, which worked out considerably better. In San Francisco she listened to indie bands, hung with musicians, scoured the best record stores, finished college, began her career as an accountant, and met her husband Randy. Eventually settling in Phoenix, she and her husband started a family that's always been deeply into music. Her husband was a freelance music journalist for many years, and the pair attended many concerts and festivals. Raising three children that are all musicians (each doing a mix of guitar, piano and vocals). There is rarely a day in the Ray household that doesn't include music. Whether it comes from the turntable spinning old vinyl, one of the kids practicing a virtuoso guitar solo, or Maija strumming and singing for her dog, there is sound happening at almost all hours of the day. She took up guitar ten years ago primarily as a means to accompany herself singing, but in recent years developed a love for nylon string acoustic and Travis-style fingerpicking. Maija began concentrating on vocals in the past year and has developed artistry in a wide range of styles from country to jazz to rock and blues. Her love of singing and her deep knowledge of multiple genres colors her performances.

James Sills grew up surrounded by music in Dayton, Ohio. His Mother sang in the church guitar choir, which rehearsed every week in his home. He fell in love with the guitar and finally got his own Yamaha six string when he was 14. He played in the church choir through high school at Chaminade-Julienne and formed a folk-rock band in college at the University of Dayton. His band played acoustic hits from the 60's and 70's at local bars including the Canal Street Tavern, where Harry Chapin played when he came to town. He was a regular performer at the Monk's Inn on campus. He went on to complete his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering at Georgia Tech and then raised three kids with his wife Sharon. He founded a successful software company focused on retail price optimization. His proudest achievement is rebuilding the transmission on his 2005 F150. Besides music, he loves adventure motorcycling in Colorado on his KLR650. When the kids left for college, he returned to the guitar and worked on refining his skills under the brilliant instruction of Craig Lempke who is known for his work with the Wrecking Crew and Glen Cambell in Los Angelos in the 70's.  James also spent seven years working on voice with Thomas Collett, a leading vocal instructor in Phoenix and lead singer of Hotwired. James has been performing across Arizona with various artists for the last decade. He teaches guitar and loves connecting with audiences. He performs primarily with a Breedlove Atlas guitar and Horner Crossover harmonicas.