At the age of thirteen Dylan James first got
turned on to hard rock music and the guitar from watching the movie Twister.
While watching the film, he heard the song "Humans Being" by Van Halen. As
James heard the song, he became very fascinated with the guitar techniques
that were being played as well as the heaviness of the song. Dylan wondered
if there were any other bands that had that similar “heavy” sound. He also
wondered if Van Halen had more great songs like "Humans Being". Then one day
while listening to the radio in the car with his father, Dylan got the
chance to hear “Eruption” also by Van Halen. After hearing it, he then said
to himself "I want to learn the guitar". Soon after that life changing
thought, James started playing the guitar. He would spend hours a day
practicing. James was determined to become a good guitarist. As time went on
Dylan was becoming more and more an avid fan of hard rock music, thanks to
the likes of Dokken, Iron Maiden, Led Zeppelin, Dream Theater and of course
Van Halen to name a few. It wasn't long before James got to a professional
level on the guitar and started looking for other musicians to jam with.
As James started to work with other musicians, he discovered that all the
musicians he came across lacked commitment, dedication and talent. Dylan
also had big dreams of becoming successful in the music industry. James knew
he needed to surround himself with some serious top notch players who had
similar goals and dreams. They also had to be talented, dedicated, reliable
and professional. Dylan wanted badly to be in a band with musicians that
could keep up with his professional level of playing and who also had the
same professional attitude as he did.
Through a mutual acquaintance Dylan was given Richie Blackwood’s phone
number. James decided to call Richie. The two spoke over the phone and
instantly hit it off. They agreed to meet and jam to see if there was any
chemistry or if two guitarists could even work together. The meeting was a
success and James was asked to come back and audition with Richie and the
rest of Blackwood. During the audition Dylan realized that Blackwood was
exactly what he was looking for. James was asked to join Blackwood and he
agreed. Blackwood went from a one guitar band to a two guitar band with
Dylan and Richie now sharing guitar duties.s