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LOS ANGELES, CA — Jamie James and Oglio Entertainment are taking another trip into the vaults with Steppin’ Back 2009, arriving digitally August 21. The latest collection follows Steppin’ Back 1988, Steppin’ Back 1999 and Steppin’ Back 2004, bringing the archival series up to 2009 and offering a unique look at how James’ songwriting evolved across more than two decades.
Best known as the frontman and guitarist of cult-favorite rockabilly trio The Kingbees, James has been a fixture of Los Angeles rock & roll for decades. His career has also included a longtime musical partnership with the late Harry Dean Stanton and his work as guitarist for Dennis Quaid & The Sharks, while his solo recordings have allowed him to continually explore the blues, roots rock, Americana and classic rock & roll that have shaped his musical identity.
Recorded over the course of several days in 2009 at Bell Sound in Hollywood, Steppin’ Back 2009 finds James surrounded by longtime friends and collaborators. Tom Walsh handles drums, Tom “Slik” Mancillas plays bass, and James is joined for the first time on one of his recordings by friend Fred Wehba on guitar, trading licks with James throughout the sessions.
Once the recordings were finished, however, they were put away and remained unheard for more than 15 years. That changed when James rediscovered the sessions and brought them to remastering engineer John Miller.
“Once again, I came across some previously unreleased recordings — this time from 2009 — and took them to remastering wizard John Miller,” says James. “He performed his usual engineering magic and brought these old tracks back to life!
“Of course, for this record I turned to the usual suspects and faithful friends to accompany me: Tom Walsh on drums, Tom ‘Slik’ Mancillas on bass, and, for the first time, my good friend Fred Wehba on guitar to exchange licks with me. We recorded these tracks over a period of a few days back in 2009 at Bell Sound in Hollywood, and that was pretty much the end of it — until now.
“It’s a collection of songs representing different moods, experiences and fantasies that moved me enough to write about them. So, thanks to Carl Caprioglio and Oglio Entertainment, and without further ado, for the first time, ladies and gentlemen, I present to you Jamie James — Steppin’ Back 2009!”
The Steppin’ Back series grew out of James and Oglio Entertainment digging through years of recordings and discovering music that deserved another listen. Rather than presenting the material as one sprawling retrospective, each release focuses on a distinct period, allowing the songs to retain the personality and musical perspective of the era in which they were created.
For Oglio Entertainment founder Carl Caprioglio, the project is also the latest chapter in a relationship with James that stretches back nearly three decades.
“Jamie has been part of the Oglio family since we released his Kingbees material back in 1998, and nearly thirty years later, that relationship is still going strong,” says Caprioglio. “He’s a true rock & roll lifer, but more importantly to me, he’s become a dear friend. Getting to go through these recordings with Jamie and help bring music that might otherwise have stayed in the vaults out into the world has been incredibly rewarding.”
STEPPIN’ BACK THROUGH THE YEARS
Steppin’ Back 1988
The series began by turning the clock back to 1988 with ten original Jamie James songs recorded with Danny O’Brien on drums and background vocals and Ricky Venus on bass and background vocals. Recorded at Wireworks Studios in Rosemead, California, the collection captures James at his most immediate: guitar, bass, drums, hit record and go. Songs including “Pieces,” “Canadian Blues” and “Rox Off” document the raw, no-frills rock & roll energy at the heart of his music.
Steppin’ Back 1999
The second installment jumped ahead more than a decade with eight songs drawn from the sessions surrounding James’ 2000 album Crossroads. Rather than simply reissue that record, James and Oglio selected what they considered the strongest material from the period, including “Country Girl Blues,” “Fame and Love,” “I’m Over You” and “The Sun’s Goin’ Down.” Newly remastered, the collection reveals a more seasoned songwriter without sacrificing the guitar-driven grooves and roots-rock spirit of his earlier work.
Steppin’ Back 2004
The series took a dramatic turn with Steppin’ Back 2004. Originally considered for the title Powerless, the ten-song collection strips James’ music down to two unplugged guitars, two voices and harmonica. James is joined by Michael Rummans, the original bassist in The Kingbees, for intimate performances of songs including “Find Our Way Home,” “Impossible Love,” “Mother Earth (She Waits For You)” and “Find Your Faith.”
James felt the songs simply didn’t require drums or additional instrumentation to feel complete. Recorded with engineer Warren Dewey and later remastered by John Miller, Steppin’ Back 2004 puts the songwriting and the long-running musical chemistry between James and Rummans front and center.
Steppin’ Back 2009
The newest installment moves the story forward another five years. Recorded at Bell Sound in Hollywood with Tom Walsh, Tom “Slik” Mancillas and Fred Wehba, the sessions capture James writing about what he describes as the “different moods, experiences and fantasies” that were inspiring him at the time.
The recordings then disappeared into the vault for more than a decade before James rediscovered them and enlisted John Miller to remaster the sessions for their first official release.
“With 1988, 1999 and 2004 already out, Steppin’ Back 2009 continues to show fans a side of Jamie’s catalog they’ve never heard before,” adds Caprioglio. “Every one of these vault releases has its own personality, and this one is no exception.”
Taken together, the four Steppin’ Back releases form a musical timeline spanning 21 years of Jamie James’ career — from the plugged-in urgency of 1988 and the seasoned roots rock of 1999 to the intimate acoustic performances of 2004 and the rediscovered Hollywood sessions of 2009.
For an artist whose career stretches from The Kingbees through decades of solo work and collaborations, Steppin’ Back fills in some of the spaces between the better-known chapters, offering a deeper portrait of a songwriter and guitarist who has never stopped making music on his own terms.
Steppin’ Back 2009 will be available digitally August 21, 2026 via Oglio Entertainment.
Pre-save Steppin’ Back 2009 and stream the other installments of the series here: https://link.content360.io/JamieJames
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