James Walbourne is a British singer, guitarist, and multi-instrumentalist. He is the lead guitar player in The Pretenders as well as one-half of The Rails.
Biography
When he was young he wanted to play in clubs around America and to fulfill his dream he left school to go on a tour in the US with Peter Bruntnell and there he became a member of the bands Pernice Brothers and Son Volt. He became a member of The Kinks’ front-man Ray Davies’s solo band and of The Pogues. In 2008 he was recruited to The Pretenders by Martin Chambers just before the Breakup the Concrete tour. In 2005 he formed a band, Royal Gun, with his brother Ron Walbourne but that disbanded after a short tour of England and the USA. In 2010 he started working on his first solo album The Hill, and it was released in 2011 by Heavenly Records.
Family and music
In 2007 when Linda Thompson was working on her album Versatile Heart, the author Nick Hornby, introduced Walbourne to Linda where he met Kami Thompsonfor the first time, but their intimacy didn’t grow and nothing came of it at the time. In 2011 they accidentally met in Los Angeles at the 50th-anniversary show for McCabe's Guitar Shop and this time their relationship grew and the pair eventually married in 2012. They founded The Rails and released their first album Fair Warning on Island Records.
Discography
Peter Bruntnell - Normal For Bridgwater Slow River Records 1999 Dust - A Dirt Track Odyssey Bar De Lune LUNECD16 2002 Peter Bruntnell - Ends Of The Earth Back Porch, Virgin 2002 Death In Vegas - Scorpio Rising Concrete 2002 Peter Bruntnell - Played Out Loose 2004 Peter Bruntnell - Ghost In A Spitfire Loose 2005 Bap Kennedy – The Big Picture 2005 Pernice Brothers - Discover A Lovelier You Ashmont Records 2005 Pernice Brothers - Nobody's Watching Ashmont Records 2005 Saint Etienne - What Have You Done Today Mervyn Day? Foreign Office 2006 Pernice Brothers - Live A Little Ashmont Records 2006 Edwyn Collins - Home Again Heavenly 2007 Linda Thompson - Versatile Heart Rounder Records 2007 Pretenders - Break Up The Concrete Shangri-La Music 2008 Pretenders* - The Best Of / Break Up The Concrete Rhino Records 2009 Joe Pernice - It Feels So Good When I Stop - Novel Soundtrack One Little Indian, Ashmont Records 2009 Jerry Lee Lewis - Mean Old Man Verve Forecast 2747091 2010 Pernice Brothers - Goodbye, Killer Ashmont Records ASHM012 2010 Pretenders - Live In London Strobosonic 2010 Shane MacGowan & Friends - I Put A Spell On You Independent Records Ltd. 2010 Peter Bruntnell - Black Mountain U.F.O. Manhaton Records Hatman 2027 2011 Dead Flamingoes - Habit EP AED 2012 Bap Kennedy - The Sailor's Revenge Linda Thompson - Won't Be Long Now Pettifer Sounds 2013 Peter Bruntnell - Black Mountain U.F.O. Manhaton Records Hatman 2027 2011 James Walbourne - The Hill Heavenly HVNLPC84 UK 2011 James Walbourne - Drugs And Money EP Heavenly – HVN230CD 2011 Linda Thompson - Won't Be Long Now Pettifer Sounds 2013 Edwyn Collins - Understated – AED Records, 2013, The Rails - Fair Warning Island Records 2014 The Rails - West Heath EP Island Records 2014 The Mark Radcliffe Folk Sessions – digital download only 2014 Thompson - Family Fantasy 2014 Jerry Lee Lewis - Rock & Roll Time Vanguard 2014 Edwyn Collins - Studio Live Session Liechtenstein Society of Sound Music, Real World Records 2014 Dave Gahan & Soulsavers* - Angels & Ghosts Columbia 2015 Soulsavers* - Kubrick San Quentin Recordings 2015 Sarah Cracknell - Red Kite Cherry Red 2015 The Rails - Australia E.P Rails EP002 2015 Peter Bruntnell - Nos Da Comrade Domestico Records DMR1962 2016 Juliette Lewis - Future Deep No Label 2016 The Rails - Other People Sony/Psychonaut Sounds 2017 The Pretenders - Alone/Alive 2017 Mother’s Little Helper - Live At The Boogaloo 2017
