In fact, he'd just graduated from college for policing when a car accident turned his world upside down. With a back injury, Sawyer's dream of helping others through law enforcement fizzled away.

That's when he re-discovered music and quickly realized there's more than one way -- and profession -- to help people.

Take, for example, one of the songs on his debut album, Next to You. Inspired by a local child -- Michael Papaioannou -- bravely dealing with a rare disease, Sawyer decided to write the song Save His World to raise awareness of Michael's situation.

One of the lines, "A life of chillin' hospital beds/testing his will with all these meds," poignantly illustrates the hardships faced by the three-year-old boy, whose parents run the Trail Eatery in Campbellville.

Sawyer, 24, performed the song for the first time at the 2005 annual fundraiser for Michael, and said that's been the highlight of his career so far.

MEMORABLE EXPERIENCE

"You could hear a needle drop as it was played," Sawyer said, adding it's an emotional song for him to sing. "No matter what, it's hard to sing."

Since then, Save His World, as well as the CD it's on, has garnered a positive response from fans and radio stations alike, perhaps the largest being play on 97.3 EZ Rock's Sick Kids radio-thon.

If fans are lucky, Sawyer might play the tune at his Sunday night performance at Mohawk Racetrack, which is part of the venue's Summer Night Concert Series.

Sawyer said he's excited about the upcoming concert, which will feature his original songs as well as a brand new tune written by a friend.

"I'm looking forward to playing my hometown of Campbellville where I've lived for 25 years," he said, adding his band will be backing him up for the gig.

Sawyer will play four 10-minute sets between races on the grand stage.

The past few years have been quite the journey for Sawyer. His CD was recorded in 2005 and 2006, and he's already gearing up for the next one.

His title track off his first album, Next to You, was released to radio stations across Canada in April, and has received air play on stations including ones in B.C. and Ottawa -- and that's no small feat.

"Getting air play in Canada is like winning the lottery," Sawyer said.

It's out of necessity that Sawyer finds himself spending a large amount of time promoting his music to radio stations.

"We have so many musicians and they're all trying to get onto the same radio (stations)," he said.

Sawyer is currently studying audio-engineering. Already having received a crash course in navigating the music business, Sawyer said he wants to continue to learn as much as he can, in hopes of eventually becoming a producer to help other artists just starting out.

Sawyer began playing piano at the age of six and picked up the guitar in his early teens. Songwriting was something he discovered in his mid-teens.

He entered college at the age of 17 in hopes of becoming a police officer, and set his music aside. The accident shattered his career plans when he was 19, and that's when he turned back to music.

Sawyer said his material falls into the pop/rock genre, but that it attracts fans ranging from teens to seniors. Songwriting is a passion of his, and it's a process with no rhyme or reason. A song can take five minutes to write, or one year -- as Save His World did.

His personal experiences always find a way of weaving themselves into his songs, and that's what makes his music so honest, he said.

Supportive parents, friends and the community as a whole have given Sawyer the confidence he needed to step out and perform, he said. As a longtime employee at Campbellville's Trail Eatery, Sawyer sold nearly 300 albums out of the restaurant.

"It really gives you the confidence to go out and play in other towns," he said.

But in the end, it's playing his hometown -- like Sunday's concert at Mohawk -- that Sawyer most looks forward to.

"I'm very excited," he said.

Sawyer's CD is available at CD Plus in Milton Mall, the Trail Eatery and at Troy's Diner as well as at www.james-sawyer.com.

Stephanie Hounsell can be reached at sthiessen@miltoncanadianchampion.com.