Otto hails from the great Northwest, which hasn’t turned out a huge number of country stars, though it hasn’t been for lack of local interest. “Country music is actually really big up there. I know when people think of Washington state they think of Seattle, but the side of WA that I’m from, which is the high plains/desert side, is all straight-up agricultural.” Not that he isn’t equally proud of being a Nashvillian, which you might guess from his ability to pinpoint the date he made the move (“thirteen years ago, August 4”).

Otto was one of the cofounders of Nashville’s genre-bending Muzik Mafia, whose weekly club shows in the early and mid-‘00s were the springboard to stardom for pals like Big & Rich and Gretchen Wilson. “I had been one of the original founding members of Muzik Mafia, from the very first show, and that was where I started thinking I might still get a shot at making music the way I wanted to make it,” he says. “It was very influential in my musical thinking, allowing me to be much more adventurous musically than any record label was going to let me be.” Anyone who attended those historic shows knew about Otto’s full range of influences. The most popular song in his set in those early days was perhaps the most R&B-inflected thing he’s ever written — “Good Thing’s Gone Bad,” which Otto never put on an album until now.

James has released three albums: Days of Our Lives, which was released on Mercury Records back in 2004; Sunset Man in 2008 released on Warner; and Shake What God Gave Ya in 2010. James also had a hand in writing Country Song of the Year, “In Color” (Jamey Johnson), and the multi-platinum selling country hit, “No Hurry” (Zac Brown Band). And, now, James is back at it, ready to bring the fans NEW MUSIC!

That’s right — James will be debuting BRAND NEW MUSIC on the Keepin’ It Country Presents StageIt Stage! James will be joining our team on March 14th at 9:00 p.m. EST/8:00 p.m. CST, and would love for you to be there to hear his new music first!

Make sure to join us for James’ show and shake what God gave ya by getting your tickets to KEEPIN’ IT COUNTRY PRESENTS…JAMES OTTO now by clicking here:

http://www.stageit.com/keepin_it_country_presents/james_otto/20921

Related posts:

1. James Otto Celebrates Release Of Zac Brown Band Single
2. James Otto Spends Halloween With His Little Lamb
3. James Otto Wants To Honor Your Heroes

We compiled the results from our polls. Here is how our awesome ‘Keepin’ It Country’ readers voted…

New Artist

The reigning American Idol champ, Scotty McCreery, was the favorite for ‘New Artist’ with 51% of the votes.

Vocal Duo

The ‘Vocal Duo of the Year’ category was by far our most popular poll. Thank-you so much for voting, and for all of your great comments! It was a battle of the fan bases between Steel Magnolia, Sugarland, and Thompson Square. Steel Magnolia fans were impressively representing for their duo and won the poll with 49% of the votes!

Vocal Group

In our ‘Vocal Group of the Year’ poll, The Band Perry edged out Lady Antebellum with 38% of the votes.

Continue reading for the rest of our results…

Female Vocalist

The ‘Female Vocalist of the Year’ category was another popular poll. Miranda Lambert was the clear favorite with 62% of the votes.

Male Vocalist

The ‘Male Vocalist of the Year’ poll came down to Blake Shelton versus Jason Aldean, and Blake won the category with 39% of the votes.

Single 

The ‘Single Record of the Year’ category was our second biggest poll behind ‘Vocal Duo.’ Jason Aldean and Kelly Clarkson took this one for their smash single, “Don’t You Wanna Stay,” by a landslide and ended up with 85% of the votes.

Album

The ‘Album of the Year’ poll went to Miranda Lambert’s “Four The Record” with 55% of the votes. Jason Aldean’s “My Kinda Party” came in second with 23%.

Song

The ‘Song of the Year’ poll was another close one. Eli Young Band‘s “Crazy Girl” squeezed by Lady Antebellum’s “Just A Kiss.”

Vocal Event

The ‘Vocal Event of the Year’ poll also went to Jason Aldean and Kelly Clarkson for “Don’t You Wanna Stay” with the duet partners finishing up with 57% of the votes.

Entertainer

The ‘Entertainer of the Year’ poll was again between Blake Shelton and Jason Aldean. Blake won out again, though, with 42% of the votes.

Thank-you again for voting in our polls! Will your predictions end up being correct?

Watch the 47th Academy of Country Music Awards on Sunday night at 8/7c on CBS to see who ends up going home winners!

Related posts:

1. POLL: ACM Awards – Album Of The Year
2. POLL: ACM Awards – Single Record Of The Year
3. POLL: ACM Awards – Male Vocalist Of The Year