His Journey to Yours...
James has been trained as a singer and vocal coach by some of the greatest voice mentors in the world, here are just a few:
Katie Agresta - Jon Bon Jovi, Steven Tyler, Annie Lenox
Nate Lam - David Coverdale, Lionel Ritchie, James Hetfield
Gina Moretta - Steve Perry of Journey
He also lectured on numerous occasions with world-class coaches Seth Riggs, Lis Lewis and Lisa Popiel. And as James puts it 'Seth took an immediate liking to me and wondered how such a young guy could know so much about singing and the pharygeal voice and was shocked that I even quoted E. Herbert Cesar from his ground breaking book on vocal technique 'The Voice Of The Mind'.
James' teaching style is an amalgamation of decades of singing professionally, training with the best, experimenting with new ideas and recieving priceless insight into the vocal mechanism from ENT to the Stars Dr. Joseph Sugerman and Duke University Otolarygology expert Dr. David Witsell and Language Pathologist Emily Scheuring. James also has current published works on the subject of singing and vocal health (Book, DVD and CDs) with Groove3 and Vendera Publishing.
James' philosophy is to focus on strengthening the singers voice using specific techniques that the student doesn't have to try and apply when singing songs, it's more like the techniques apply themselves to the singer. Like he says 'the instruction changes your DNA'. You never have to think, you just get on stage or in the studio and tell the story. It's that simple. It came from years of him taking lessons from an array of teachers and realizing that the coaches that tought a straightforward approach with an emphasis on solid fundementals were the aspects of what he was learning that he could count on day in and day out and not ever have to think. Like he says ' when I sling a Les Paul and get behind the mic I can't be thinking about what some vocal coach taught me, it just needs to be there automatically'.
All lessons are recorded so the student goes home with a CD after each lesson. Skype students recieve an email link to a downloadable folder with exercises. Each lesson will be custom tailored to the singers needs, style and goals. Voice lessons will consist of a combination of warm up exercises, strengthening and flexibility, chest/blend/head voice workout and range increasing (how to get through the 'break'). Lessons can also include singing songs, usually songs the student has chosen and working on tone and 'sound'. If there are any pitch or interval issues they will be addressed along with conceptual flow and lyrical interpretation. The lessons are peformed in James' studio Hemispheres, so we can even track some vocals during the lesson!
James has trained countless singers to their full potential and beyond, he's coached singers to record deals, saved tours and even saved the Andrew Llyod Weber play 'Bombay Dreams' when the lead tenor blow out his voice. He has worked with an array of artists living in LA and working with American Idol and GLEE, everything from Pop, Country, Rock, Alt Country, R&B, Metal, Contemporary Christian, Americana and Alternative/Indie. He has done it all in spades! And not only is he teaching in his vocal/recording studio in Nashville but you can now take private voice lesson with James Lugo on Skype no matter where you live in the world.
The other thing that sets James apart from many in his field is he not only has a full commercial recording studio but he has worked as a producer, composer and mixer on countless great and successful records from all genres. So he 'gets it'. Like he says in the studio, 'we drive it till the wheels fall off'. Nothing in James Lugo's music and vocal endevors has been done half hearted. Go big or go home!