James Velvet Tribute
Best Video
Hamden
Dec. 7, 2025
The first two James Velvet songs that floated through the air yesterday afternoon at Best Video were, appropriately enough, “I’m Still Here” and “Some of my Friends,” as the late musical legend’s friends came by to fill the space and celebrate the launch of his complete catalog of music.
Bandcamp is the new home of all of Velvet’s recordings, which are now available to stream or download, including liner notes, photos, and lyrics with the proceeds of all purchases going to the New Orleans Musicians Clinic. It is a labor of love put together by musician and friend Shandy Lawson with Velvet’s wife Nancy Lee Abbey’s assistance and blessing.
Both Abbey and Lawson were there at Best Video Sunday hosting the event. Velvet’s friends and fans came to listen and reminisce with food, drinks, laughs, lots of hug, and of course, his music.
There are now 24 James Velvet albums available on Bandcamp, one of which is a tribute album released this past March which according to Lawson became the impetus for collecting the rest of the recordings and putting them all in one accessible place.
The online catalog includes solo recordings and records from Velvet’s bands, including The Mocking Birds (which had a ten-year long residency at cafe nine), The Ivory Bills, and The Lonesome Sparrows, including a live album called Blasphemy for a Holiday Weekend recorded right there at Best Video. The vast amount of music included is full of highlights, a must listen all the way through for any fan of Velvet’s but also a treasure trove of songwriting gems. There’s the live show favorite (and inevitable singalong) “I Got a Shirt,” which finds Velvet playfully singing, “I got a shirt, makes me feel like a king / When I put it on I got everything.” And there are touching moments such as the aforementioned “I’m Still Here,” which showcases Velvet’s gift for warmth and tenderness as he sings, “I’ve lived my whole life right here where we are. This is my town.” His musical legacy runs deep and consistently delights.
The idea of a tribute album began back in 2020. Lawson said he ended up with 28 submissions from local musicians. It became a “massive” project with “a lot of songs covered from a few albums.” But there were more than 20 records recorded with multiple bands, and “nothing like that was out there.” Lawson again talked with Abbey and then set upon gathering as much of Velvet’s music together as they could.
“We had no idea what a project it would be,” he said.
That was the record being played as the event began and the space filled. Musician and longtime friend Frank Critelli welcomed everyone and passed out stickers that said “I love James Velvet.” Those stickers included a QR code that once scanned would lead you to the newly collected music catalog. CDs could be purchased as well as shirts that said “I Love James Velvet” on them. Those had been printed up for the Tribute album show that happened back in March at New England Brewing Company. That show featured many of the acts playing the covers that graced the album as well as a star studded finale (and a special beer named after Velvet with a label by artist Craig Gilbert that featured Velvet himself).
One of those shirts was being worn by Abbey, who spoke about her late husband’s musical life and legacy and Lawson’s commitment to the project.
“He did this as a a labor of love,” she said referencing Lawson’s efforts to collect all the recordings. “It means a lot to me to have them all in one place.”
While Abbey has maintained Velvet’s website since his passing in 2015 where some of his work was already available, there were many recordings only available on vinyl up until now. Abbey is thrilled with everyone having easier access to those.
“I’m really dedicated to people remembering James in a wonderful way,” she said.
“He was larger than life,” she added. “He was six foot five, but he was bigger than that. I don’t know anyone who didn’t love him.”
Many of those loved ones were there at this event, including his Local Band Show cohost and longtime friend Rick Allison who posed for a photo with current cohosts Critelli and Dennis Lamar. Critelli also rounded up Velvet’s former bandmates Ian Alsgaard (from the High Lonesome Plains), Calvin DeCutlass (from the Nortons), John L. (from the Ivory Bills and High Lonesome Plains), and Johnny Java (who Critelli told me was in every band Velvet was in) for a photo.
Many there spoke about their times with Velvet and, of course, the music.
“He was a lyricist of art,” said Lawson, He was a poet. He approached it as a craftsman.”
Abbey echoed that sentiment.
“He was as much a poet as a songwriter,’ said Abbey.
Critelli made sure multiple times to thank everyone for gathering to celebrate Velvet’s catalog, calling him “our mentor and hero.”
“He was a good friend to me, he was a good friend to everybody,” Critelli said.
Critelli also called him a “prolific songwriter,” and I wondered if someone had not been familiar with the breadth of his work where might be a good place to start to explore.
Critelli suggested the album “Bones ‘n Clones,” which he described as “a reimagining of his popular songs over the years” that was re-recorded with Jim Chapdelaine, as well as his three “seasonal” EPs: “Summer Born Great,” “Spring Collection,” and “Ten Thousand Nights.”
“Those are him at the top of his game,” Critelli added with a smile.
There were a lot of smiles in that room yesterday as well as a lot of tears. The music had created bonds even deeper than friendship. Velvet’s legacy appears to be not only his vast catalog of songs, but the lasting love, enthusiasm, and vitality with which he created those songs and those friendships.
“We’re all here for a little while and then were not,” said Critelli. “Emerson suggested to leave the world a little better than you found it. That’s what James did.”
Please visit the James Velvet Bandcamp page to explore, stream, and/or download the new catalog.
James Velvet performing back in the day.
