i.am.james. is the dynamic project of singer-songwriter Sierra Cassidy, fusing edgy contemporary folk, indie rock, and upbeat alternative pop with real instruments, heady harmonies and her trademark revelatory poetics. 

     After more than a decade spent touring the country, Cassidy is presently based in her native Leelanau County, MI, while she continues to  spearhead the i.am.james. project along with multiple Michigan bandmates and founding member Cat Lebo on drum kit and background vocals.

    A vibrant year for i.am.james., 2026 has so far included venue highlights like The Alluvion (Traverse City), Dam Jam Music Festival (Lansing, MI), The Stray (sold out- Grand Rapids), Wheatland Music Festival, Black Rocks Brewery (Marquette, MI), as well as performances in support of a myriad of varied artists such as: Lindsay Lou, Willow Avalon, Joan Shelley, and Matthew Logan Vasquez, to name a few. 

    Interlochen Arts Academy graduate, and Berklee College of Music drop-out, for more than half a decade, Cassidy called Nashville home while also touring across the midwest, south, and East Coast often returning to Michigan to play at venerated Michigan festivals and stages like Bliss Fest, Wheatland Music Festival, 20 Front Street, and City Opera House. 

     Immediately after relocating back to Michigan, in 2023, she recorded her debut full length album, with Michael Dause of TreeTone Studios at the helm of recording and production. “The Garden” features an all-star cast of Michigan musicians. Equally at home in the midwest woodlands as she is amid the city’s bustle, every song on the album manages to coalesce these divergent elements into the contemporary folk and indie rock sound i.am.james. has honed over a lifetime of bridging the distance between extremes. Informed by her personal experiences and many years on the road, The Garden carefully articulates tales glittering with disillusionment, deception and eventual growth entangled with lyrical metaphors tied to the natural world of fields, forests, and marshy swamps.

    A second full length project is currently underway. Swirling around the edge of all things alternative, the next releases from i.am.james. invite you to roll your windows down and kick up the volume to a sonic cocktail of both softness and intensity with danceable upbeat textures and new tales told.