James Fearnley is an English musician who plays accordion in the Pogues. As a child he took piano lessons but did not enjoy them, so he chose to learn the guitar instead. Fearnley became the guitarist in the last iteration of Shane MacGowan's band The Nipple Erectors. In 1982, MacGowan and Jem Finer were seeking an accordion player for their latest project, The Pogues. MacGowan knew that Fearnley had taken piano lessons and believed that he might be able to play the accordion too. Finer turned up at Fearnley's flat with an accordion in a laundry bag and persuaded him to give it a try. Fearnley was nicknamed 'maestro' because he could tune the instruments. Thus, he joined The Pogues.

Fearnley has worked on several Alex Cox films. In "DEAD SOULS," he arranged and performed Mussorgsky's Night on Bare Mountain on piano (acted by Merritt Crocker). In the film Sid & Nancy he worked on several songs in the soundtrack; For the film Straight to Hell he worked on the soundtrack and additionally acted (as "Jimmy McMahon").