ABOUT
TERESA JAMES
Teresa James & the Rhythm Tramps are on quite a roll.
Their 2019 CD, ‘Here in Babylon’ was nominated for a Grammy in the Contemporary Blues Album category and Teresa was nominated by the Blues Foundation in 2008, 2022 and 2023 for ‘Contemporary Female Blues Artist of the Year’. Her persuasive pipes slathered in honey and soaked in Texas–bred sass, keyboardist Teresa James and her band, the Rhythm Tramps, have long reigned as one of Los Angeles’ leading contemporary. Blues outfits, even though their uncommonly imaginative repertoire, much of it supplied by Terry Wilson, James’ husband, producer and bassist, is by no means strictly limited to the 12-bar blues.
Their most recent CD, ‘Bad at Being Good’, released in January 2026, perfectly showcases their mastery of the rockin' roadhouse blues that has become their signature sound. Produced by Terry Wilson along with award winning producer John Porter (Buddy Guy, Taj Mahal, Keb Mo), they have assembled highly skilled and seasoned players to once again stretch the boundaries of their Texas Blues roots with touches of soul and hints of New Orleans spice. The singular sounds of GRAMMY® winning pianist Jon Cleary add a special treat to the title track. This CD, their 14th release, leans a bit more heavily into a traditional blues form than any of their others while still offering a soul drenched contemporary sound.
Augmenting the core unit of Teresa James (piano/vocals), Billy Watts (guitar), Terry Wilson (bass), Darrell Leonard (trumpet), Paulie Cerra (saxophone) and Tony Braunagel (drums), GRAMMY winning keyboard master Kevin McKendree appears on more than half the tracks, GRAMMY winner Jay Bellerose handles drums on two tracks, and keeping things in the family, James and Wilson’s son-in-law, Richard Millsap (John Fogerty’s touring drummer) adds percussion throughout. Session guitar master Dean Parks adds flavor to ‘Trouble in Paradise”, David P. Jackson, named California Country Music Association’s Best Instrumentalist in 1996, adds accordion to “Anytime is Alright”. The singular sounds of GRAMMY winning pianist Jon Cleary along with slide guitar from producer John Porter add a special treat to the title track.
By any yardstick, Teresa got an uncommonly early start on her lifelong profession “There was always music playing in my house. My dad was a huge music fan and he had all kinds of musical interests, so I was exposed to a lot of different kinds of music. I studied classical music from kindergarten until I was a sophomore in high school and when I was around 8 or so, my dad taught me to play guitar.” Those were the seeds which would eventually lead to a musical career including recordings with Walter Trout, Eric Burdon, Spencer Davis, Tommy Castro, Randy Newman, Mike Zito, Neil Diamond and more; plus live performances with countless others, including Marcia Ball, Levon Helm, Delbert McClinton, Eric Burdon & the Animals and lots more. She has been a featured act on Delbert McClinton’s Sandy Beaches Cruises for more than twenty years.
Teresa ultimately left Houston at the encouragement of Terry Wilson and his buddy, Tony Braunagel, who she met on their way to relocate in LA. Terry proved the perfect musical cohort for Teresa. “Terry is a prolific and inventive songwriter and our collaboration is a good match. He knows the kinds of things that I’m going to be able to put myself into to take his work and expand it,” she says. “Over the years, we have definitely developed a partnership that really works.” Her band, the Rhythm Tramps, consists of world class players that have toured or recorded with artists including Eric Burdon & the Animals, Bonnie Raitt, Lightnin’ Hopkins, Jimmy Vaughan, Johnny Nash, John Fogerty, Tom Jones, Tower of Power, Robert Plant, Hugh Laurie and so many more…
In 1998, the Rhythm Tramps released their debut album, The Whole Enchilada, on Jesi-Lu Records, with Teresa and Terry’s studio cohorts including guitarists Billy Watts, Johnny Lee Schell, Josh Sklair and Stephen Bruton. Tony Braunagel and Herman Matthews manned the drums. This inaugural CD was followed up with eight other CDs over the next 20 years, leading up to the 2018 release of the Grammy nominated, Here in Babylon, which was mixed by Ed Cherney with Jay Bellarose on drums. Since then she has released 3 other CD, including With a Little Help from her Friends, a pandemic boredom induced collection of Beatle songs reimagined in Rhythm Tramp style, that debuted at #9 on the Billboard Blues chart.
As if the band didn’t keep her busy enough, Teresa has also done considerable vocal work for hire on film and TV soundtracks, and commercials. She worked extensively with other songwriters singing song demos in Los Angeles for writers such as Burt Bacharach, Barry Mann & Cynthia Weil, Steve Dorff and lots of others. One of her favorite composers to work for in the studio is Randy Newman; she is especially proud of her work on his 2017 CD, Dark Matter.
Teresa James & the Rhythm Tramps remain a staple of the Los Angeles-area blues scene in addition to working as an international touring artists with a sound all their own. Moving easily from Texas-style grease and blues into Memphis soul or New Orleans-flavored grooves and all points in between with fun and abandonment. As one critic said, ‘there are no cliches in this band.”
THE RHYTHM TRAMPS
Our band, the Rhythm Tramps, has a long history:
The first band to be called ‘the Rhythm Tramps’ was formed by Terry Wilson and Tony Braunagel when they were living in London back in the 70’s. They were touring at the time with the rock band, Back Street Crawler (which also featured the legendary Paul Kossoff on guitar and John ‘Rabbit’ Bundrick who has been a long time keyboard player with The Who) and they missed playing the Texas style blues that they had grown up with, so they formed the ‘Rhythm Tramps’ and performed in local pubs. It got to be quite a hang for London musicians – legendary singer, Frankie Miller was one of the regulars, which also included whoever happened to be in town. The transient nature of the players spawned the name, ‘the Rhythm Tramps’. In the years since Terry and I have re-established the Rhythm Tramp tradition, we have also had a lot of amazing players that have played with the band – some for several years at a time, some for just a few nights. Even though we have a steady group of players with us now, there are still occasions where we have the opportunity to bring in other players. Below our current roster, you'll find a partial list (in no particular order) of some of the people that we have had the pleasure of working with over the years.
Terry Wilson
born: Warren, Arkansas
plays: bass and vocals
has played with: ERIC BURDON, JIMMY REED, JOHNNY NASH, BACKSTREET CRAWLER (PAUL KOSSOFF)
"Terry is the soul of the band. It is his vision and his songs that make up the essence of our music."
Prolific songwriter, imaginative producer, rock-solid bassist—for nearly forty years, Terry Wilson has handled a lot of crucial duties as half of the Rhythm Tramps’ leadership. Wilson grew up in Deer Park, Texas, a suburb of Houston. Like his wife, Teresa James, he caught the music bug early. Though originally wanting to be a baseball pitcher, music took over. Weekend gigs were bringing in as much as 250 dollars at a time when salaries were no more than three bucks an hour.
At age 19, Wilson switched from guitar to playing bass, and had gig opportunities seven nights a week. He and keyboard player John ‘Rabbit’ Bundrick were charter members of the rock band Blackwell and played on the eponymous 1970 album. Terry and Rabbit also started working with Johnny Nash, who was just getting into reggae at that time.
As part of Bloontz All Star Blues Band, Terry recorded for Evolution Records at Electric Ladyland Studios in New York. Not long after that Johnny Nash invited him on tour. Later, Rabbit invited Wilson and Tony Braunagel to come to London for a session for Island Records. As additional projects came in, they were offered a house in Chelsea while they worked as a house rhythm section to reinvent Island’s publishing catalog.
When Back Street Crawler was formed with Paul Kossoff, Wilson played on their 1975 debut album The Band Plays On (Atlantic Records), and wrote the title track. Their second and final album, 2nd Street, followed in 1976. When Kossoff passed away, it was time to return to Houston, where Wilson and Braunagel played with many different musicians, and Wilson ultimately met Teresa James.
Wilson and Braunagel relocated to Los Angeles in early 1980. After two years of visits, James finally joined them. Their initial gigs together in 1983 were billed as T-Bird and the Moon Pies, James’ nickname was T-Bird.”
At that time, Wilson also toured and recorded in Eric Burdon’s band. He played on Burdon’s 1982 album Eric Burdon Band and his ‘83 encore Power Company, and wrote “Love Is For All Time” for the reformed Animals’ Ark album in 1983.
Although they were gigging steadily around L.A., Teresa James and The Rhythm Tramps didn’t make their recorded debut until 1998. Twenty years later, they received a GRAMMY nomination (Contemporary Blues Album) for Here in Babylon (2018). Either with his wife or on his own, Wilson has written much of the band’s recorded material.
BILLY WATTS
born: New Brunswick, Canada
plays: guitars and vocals
has played with: JACKSON BROWNE, BONNIE RAITT,
MOJO MONKEYS, JENNIFER WARNES
"Billy is a true musician and a joy to have in the band. He always seems to know just the perfect thing to play to bring out the heart of our music."
HERMAN MATTHEWS
born: Houston, Texas
plays: drums and percussion
has played with: TOM JONES, TOWER OF POWER,
KENNY LOGGINS, GEORGE DUKE
"Herman has an eclectic style that is unlike any other drummer that I have ever worked with. He brings a wonderfully unique flavor to our music."