Wilkinson James at the Aster Cafe

Wilkinson James was born in 2008 when Liz Wilkinson and AJ Scheiber met up and merged their singing and songwriting into a musical partnership that one fan described as "the bastard offspring of June Carter Cash and Townes Van Zandt." Somewhere along the line that duo became a full band, adding pedal steel, fiddle, and saxophone to Liz and AJ’s tightly knit harmonies and classic-yet-fresh original tunes. Their first (self-titled) album, released in 2014, showed their love of folk, honky-tonk, and country blues. The follow-up, Abandon, added touches of jazz, torch, and swing to their folk / honky-tonk base, while keeping the focus on original songwriting, eclectic, carefully curated covers, and fun, energetic performances.