Sam James is having a pretty big year. First, he appeared on the TV show “Songland.” Then, a song he co-write was the closing single on the movie “Abominable,” sung by Bebe Rexha. Now, he has a new song he’s co-penned being released Friday, performed by no less than Dolly Parton, working with the electro-pop duo Galantis.



“These are songs I wrote three years ago,” he said in a recent phone conversation. “A lot of times, you’re building up a catalogue. I’ve written 400 songs the past three years, maybe more, and maybe five have been cut. Once you start getting cut, it gets a little bit easier. Your name is a little more recognized, people are more likely to listen.”



James’ name certainly doesn’t need a lot of introduction in Worcester music circles. A longtime fixture of the music scene, James made waves as the first Worcester native to make it onto the televised singing competition, “The Voice,” where he worked with Maroon 5’s Adam Levine. He was followed later by Alisan Porter, who would go on to win the competition, and current competitor Ricky Duran.



The video of the new song, titled "Faith," comes out Friday and Parton will perform it at the CMA Awards in Nashville Nov. 12.

Also Friday, James will be on stage at 8 p.m. Oct. 25 at Electric Haze in Worcester, performing with Dan Burke and the Royal Treatment.



“I feel like Worcester is having a cool music moment,” he says, pointing to Duran, the success of rapper Joyner Lucas, and to former Worcester musician Nana Afriyie, who co-wrote Beyonce’s "Don’t Jealous Me” off the “Lion King” soundtrack. And “Faith” is, at its core, definitely a Worcester production. In addition to James co-writing, the song was produced by Worcester natives David Saint Fleur and Eric Aukstikalnis.



James says the song began by taking John Hiatt’s song, “Have a Little Faith in Me,” and rewriting the verse, lyrics and melody.



“Almost all the credit on this record goes to David Saint Fleur,” says James. “David has this crazy idea, what did we took this song, and flipped it and made a dance track.” James says Saint Fleur showed it to the members of Galantis, who loved it and wanted to record it. According to James, Saint Fleur also had the wild idea to approach Parton … a plan no one thought would work, but Saint Fleur persisted, and finally was able to play it for her.



“She fell in love with it,” says James. “It’s so unbelievable. That’s the fun thing about music, you know, Sometimes that can happen.”



James says the song has evolved greatly from the original recorded version, and that while he was once singing on it, his only vocal presence on the final product is that he’s singing uncredited on the chorus, and that his voice is unrecognizable.



“This song has been such a journey,” says James. “There’s an orchestra from the Netherlands. A five-piece orchestra. I’m psyched for people to hear it. John Hiatt gave his blessing, and he’s tough!”



Although he currently lives in the Worcester area and spends a good deal of time here, James regularly “commutes" to Nashville for weeks at a time.



“The big difference for me," he says, “being and up and coming songwriter — I work for BMG and one of their main offices is in Nashville, and so are all their resources. In Massachusetts, there’s no resources. Not only are all the record labels there, but if someone loves (something you wrote), they can walk it across the street and play it for Blake Shelton’s rep. It’s easier to be face to face. A lot of the very seasoned writers live in Nashville full time, so its’ easier.”



Still, James says Worcester and its music scene have been an immense source of support on his journey, through “The Voice” and “Songland,” and his current singles.



“It never feels like you’re doing it alone,” he says of the support he’s gotten. “You don’t feel like you’re out there by yourself … Worcester feels like such a small town, big enough to make a dent on a national scale.”



James says he felt that support pushing the success of his single “Shinedown,” which he performed on “Songland” for John Legend. The single broke the top 50 country charts.



“‘I didn’t know that it would be John Legend,” says James. “They didn’t tell me that. I didn’t win … it’s not a winning thing, but it would have made a difference to me, because I would not pitch that song to him, I would have pitched something else."



James says the chance to discuss songwriting with Legend was worth the whole experience, all on its own. “Honestly, it’s such a true insight into what goes down.”



He also says he still has a good relationship with the producers, who are also producers for “The Voice,” and that they’ve been texting him things like, “Your boy’s killing it” when Duran performs.



“Ricky is just built for that show,” says James, who he says is a dear friend whom he once played in a duo with.



“I love playing with Ricky, because it’s always great to play with people better than you. But with Ricky, he just seems so comfortable out there. Maybe it’s just the right time in his life to do this. He looks great, sounds great … It feels great when people can catch a break, and he’s earned it. He’s just a great musician and a great guy, and I’m so happy for him.”

Email Victor D. Infante at Victor.Infante@Telegram.com and follow him on Twitter @ocvictor.











