Steve James​ is an original roots music adept whose guitar, mandolin, singing and writing have made him familiar around the world to those whose inner soundtrack resonates to real folk and blues. Steve’s musical journey of over half a century started in New York where childhood playthings included Leadbelly 78s and his Dad’s dusty guitar. That trip led from the lofts of the Lower East Side to the hills of Tennessee, Memphis and the deeper South where the young autodidact got pointed in the right direction by elder wizards like Sam McGee and Furry Lewis who told him: “Get your own song!” Settling in Texas, Steve employed what he’d learned during his journeywork on stage and in the studio to become known as “an underground legend” at home and to embark on world travels that continue to the present. Taking the “pass it on” covenant that comes with learning real roots music seriously, he has participated in literally hundreds of music workshops and camps and created numerous books and video lessons for guitar and mandolin. Also experienced as a luthier, Steve, who now calls Seattle home, devotes his down time to the repair and restoration of vintage instruments and has acted as a product rep and design consultant for Collings and National, the makers of his signature model guitar.