George Dionne interviews musician JAMIE JAMES about his ‘Stepping Back’ series of albums, chronicling unreleased material from 1988-2009. The albums are available now through Oglio Entertainment.
JAMIE JAMES was a member of the NEW STEPPENWOLF, fronted THE KINGBEES, played with actor HARRY DEAN STATNON’s band, and was a key member of DENNIS QUAID AND THE SHARKS.
”[THE KINGBEES] toured for a long time, out there beating a path that had not really been forged yet, for what we were doing. Radio stations didn’t know what to do with us…after two or three years of that, I was done with the spotlight” – Jamie James
Highlights include:
- How the ‘Stepping Back’ series came to be
- Where had all this unreleased material been
- Recording music and demos for fun back in the day
- Working with engineer Warren Dewey (KISS, BOSTON, SAMMY HAGAR)
- How each release differs from the other
- Actors and musicians
- Preferring to collaborate over being in the spotlight
- His time in THE KINGBEES
- How they got their record deal with RSO
- Appearing on Dick Clark’s American Bandstand
- The impact his open heart surgery had on his songwriting
- Other gems found in addition to the ‘Stepping Back’ material
- His time with PACIFIC COAST HIGHWAY (PCH)
- An un-released LINDA PERRY produced movie he worked on
- First time meeting HARRY DEAN STANTON
- Collaborating with DENNIS QUAID for the first time
- His time in the NEW STEPPENWOLF
- Working recently with Blues artist PEACH
- Local unheard bands and the heart of music
- And much, much more!
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