Teresa James was born and raised in Houston, Texas where she was introduced to music at an early age by her father and grandfather, both guitar players in the old school tradition. She starting playing piano at 5 and hasn't stopped since. Called a singer's singer by many, when the SAG Singer's Committee got together to honor composer Randy Newman, Teresa was chosen as the soloist to perform his favorite song to him. Relocating to Los Angeles in the 80's, her band, the Rhythm Tramps, is made up of world class players that have toured or recorded with such artists as Eric Burdon & the Animals, Bonnie Raitt, Delbert McClinton, Jimmy Reed, Lightin' Hopkins, Jimmy Vaughan, Johnny Nash, Smokey Robinson, Tom Jones, Tower of Power, and their songs have been recorded by many other artists. As one critic said, "there are no clichs in this band". They move easily through Texas style grease and blues into Memphis soul or New Orleans flavored grooves and all points in between with fun and abandonment. In addition to having toured all over N. America and Europe, she has been one of the featured acts on Delbert McClinton's Sandy Beaches Cruise for over 20 years.