As a young toddler, James Richards was first introduced to the guitar by his grandfather and uncle. He can remember them playing guitars together in his grandfather’s living room. Too young to speak, he called the guitar a “do do” as that described the sound it made. It wasn’t until age 12, though, that James convinced his parents to buy him his first guitar for his birthday. A couple of years later, his grandmother bought him a better guitar and he wrote his first song at age 14. The songwriting bug bit him and more songs came after that. Writing songs came naturally, and the more he wrote the more easily they came. Then his father bought an old, beat up upright piano at an auction. James took up piano and starting writing even more songs. His parents were gracious and allowed him to get up early and stay up late to write and practice. He stayed busy and honed his musical skills by playing in a rock band with his buddies during high school. When it came time to go to college, he performed his original song “Silver Ship” to earn the Schauwecker Music Scholarship for all four years at Coe College.

Fast forward four years and James graduated with a college degree in Economics. Huh? Yes, practicality won out and he decided to pursue a more secure career in the field of investments. He put his music on the back burner as he developed his business career. This is a decision that he has pondered over many times during his adult life. However, he kept writing songs and continued to dream of taking his songwriting to a higher level. During the last decade, James’ songwriting kicked into a much higher gear, spurred on, in part, by the reunion of his high school bandmates and the addition of his brother, Paul Richards, on drums. Things got serious as James added a music studio in his home and invested in a collection of guitars, keyboards and recording gear. As his catalog of original music has grown, James finally made a long overdue decision to take a risk and ventured out to Sweetwater Studios in Fort Wayne, Indiana to record his original songs. Joining him in this project was lifelong friend and collaborator, Mike McAlister on bass guitar and brother Paul on drums and backing vocals. This was the birth of Divergent and the debut EP “Runnin’ Free.”