James Stapleton-Cotton South Africa

James Stapleton-Cotton is a classical guitarist from Cape Town, South Africa and now based in Europe. He first picked up the guitar in 2010 and it’s become one of his biggest passions. Taught by Derek Gripper, one of South Africa’s best classical/contemporary guitarists, Derek has been one of James’ main musical inspirations, which includes the music of Africa and nature. James loves to play traditional African music and this type of music has played a big role in the sculpting of his style and technique. James’ music is completely unique as he creates pieces without much form or structure, but rather with the flow of the moment. His music is entirely improvisational and spontaneous. James also enjoys playing music from a variety of composers, from J.S. Bach all the way to traditional African composers.

James’ other passion is guitar making. In fact, he made the classical guitar that he currently plays. This adds something even more unique to his music and performance. Thanks to Casimi Guitars based in Cape Town, he learned the techniques of creating extremely high quality guitars. This has added a great value to his creation of music.