James Otto spends most of his time on a bus with nine other guys.

In the next two weeks alone, the singer-songwriter will perform concerts in West Virginia, New York, South Carolina, Pennsylvania and New Jersey. He estimated he will play 300 shows this year.

Contributed photo (ENLARGE)

Keihin Auditorium signed a rising star when it decided to bring in James Otto on Aug. 29.

The life can be grueling, Otto said, but when he steps onstage, it is all worth it.

"It is the hour that you are onstage that makes the 23 hours that you are on the bus worth it. It is being in front of the fans and playing for people and getting that rush of playing live onstage. That is the best part of this job for sure," said Otto of Nashville, Tenn.

Fans will get a firsthand chance to see Otto's blend of "country soul" music when he performs at 8 p.m. Aug. 29 in Keihin Auditorium at Edgecombe Community College in Tarboro, said Cultural Arts Director Eric Greene.

"We decided to try and pursue him for a back-to-school concert knowing that we could probably afford him now, but that if his success continued, we probably wouldn't be able to. The idea was to try and book him while we could," Greene said.

Greene hopes having the concert at the start of Labor Day weekend will give a boost to the venue's performance series, which is supposed to start in October. He expects good ticket sales because of the local popularity of country music.

"It is a very good country market. The sold-out Taylor Swift show was a perfect indication of that," Greene said. "James is a relatively new country artist. ... I think that the 'Just Got Started Lovin' You' song is appealing to young country music enthusiasts as well as long-time country music enthusiasts."

Otto will sing songs from his second compact disc, "Sunset Man." He wrote the music and lyrics for nine of the 11 songs on his CD, which was released in April.

"We are going to try to take them on a roller coaster ride of emotion, kind of like the record. We'll take you through all the paces of the album and then some familiar stuff as well. We'll do some up tempo covers that will get people rocking. We are going to try to set that place on fire," Otto said.

The concert will include cover songs by some of Otto's favorite artists, but he wouldn't tell which ones.

"I don't like to give away the surprises, but it'll be fun," Otto said.

That's because music is fun for Otto. He started singing at age 4 and played several musical instruments before picking up the guitar at age 14.

His love of music is what brought Otto to Nashville 11 years ago and sustained him through a disappointing record deal with Mercury Nashville Records.

He signed a new deal with Warner Bros. Records in 2007 and already has seen success with "Sunset Man." The first single on the CD, "Just Got Started Lovin' You," reached No. 1 on the Hot Country Songs charts in May. Otto was blown away by the success.

"Nobody could have ever told me that it was going to be as big as it was. Right now, it is so far the biggest single of the year, which is incredible. It is something that we would have never believed, but it is just a great thing to know that it's working out like it is," Otto said.

It is not a surprise to Dave Richmond, a host at radio station WDWG, the concert's media sponsor. Richmond met Otto in March and was impressed with the man and his music, so he suggested the artist for a concert to Greene.

"When you hear his voice, the way he delivers a song, he's got a soulful voice, a really deep voice. ... He is a really big presence and he comes across that way as far as when he sings a song," Richmond said. "He doesn't hold anything back when he is singing, and that is something I respect a lot."

Otto doesn't consider it a hardship. His job takes him away from home, but he understands it is what he has to do right now to perform the music he has loved all his life.

"I think even in the cradle, I was bouncing around in the cradle to music. I was just always kind of blown away with it," Otto said. "I know my dad was a musician, and my grandfather was a musician as well. They say that's in the blood, and I guess that must be part of it."

Tickets to the show are $20. They can be purchased online at etix.com or by calling 823-5166 ext. 187.