Thirty years later, James Thornbury says hearing Fred McDowell over the airways in Los Angeles was a defining moment in kicking off his career as a blues artist. The DJ said “that was Mississippi Fred” and I went straight to the nearest record store and bought his Live in London LP. Never inclined to be a real technical player, the open tunings and glass finger inspired the young singer/guitarist with a new direction, and cross country drives provided long hours (for his friends anyway) where he would explore the blues harp.
“I started working with Texas blues rocker Lanny Ray’s band. He had already been backing Big Joe Turner and a number of top blues artists at a joint north of LA called Corral. We wound up working a dozen states for 5 years and remain good friends.

Another time James was hitch hiking with his guitar to a restaurant in Eugene, Oregon. This car pulled over with Little Walter blaring out the window. The driver was Stokes Morgan, the first of half a dozen drummers James would work with in that town. One of these line ups, James T and the Tough, was rocking a Corvallis, Oregon bar when Henry Vestine, founding member of Canned Heat, arrived, black Les Paul in hand. That night was the first of 12 years of nights the two guitar players would perform around the world.

Henry brought James (and multi instrumentalist Brevetti “Skip” Jones) back to LA for some Canned Heat rehearsals and a southwest tour. This run, for James, would be the beginning of 10 years performing guitar, vocals, harmonica, bass and flute with that blues institution. In the autumn of 1985, Fito de la Parra (drummer and band leader) re shuffled the line up for a fifty date, 20th anniversary tour. Two months later James, Henry, Fito, Larry Taylor (bass and vocals) and New Orleans singer, piano player Ronnie Barron were on that long flight to Australia. For the next decade, and through many a shuffle, James would remain the “man in the middle” for Canned Heat. James reflects with a smile “Touring is no picnic, but there were so many great nights, times and people. Of course, sharing the stage with John Lee Hooker, a tour bus with Albert King and hotel breakfasts with so many musicians on the road rank high in the memory bank. And on one of those nights in 1990 James met his gorgeous wife, Mallika, at the inaugural Byron Bay Blues Festival in NSW. Five years later, after his last Canned Heat tour, he migrated to Australia. “I remember saying goodbye to Fito, Henry, Junior Watson and Jeff Turmes in Melbourne. My run with the band had ended, bittersweet no doubt, but the vibe was up.”

Naturally James was looking for players in Australia when a Newcastle friend introduced him to an experienced, Sydney blues outfit called the King Bees, and a good match it was. Now called James T and the Last Volunteers the band played on for 7 years with no personnel changes before pulling up stumps. Conversely, after 8 blues rock albums James was ready to indulge his British Folk influences by taking a tributary off the main stream. The self penned CD entitled “This Ain’t That” still provides a song or two in his otherwise bluesy solo set. A collaboration with Doc Span and Dirk Dubois two main players on the Aussie circuit pulled James back on the blues train, and the wheels roll on. The past couple of years James has focused on a solo career. Bluesman John Hammond once said, “If you can work solo, do it.”
“I still enjoy festivals and good clubs with a full band or rhythm section but the solo thing is right and it’s got a thing about it.”

As the future beckons, James T is looking at more tours around Australia, another stateside run and a new album of original songs. And, he hopes to catch you down the road apiece.