She has just released, "Driving Toward The Sun" another full length CD in March 2013.

For her 2013 album, James teamed up with producer Ryan Ulyate, who has worked in the past with Tom Petty, Jeff Lynne and George Harrison. Ulyate is just one of the many talented people who James attracts to her projects. The new recordings include legendary L.A. drummer Don Heffington (Lone Justice) and guitarist Neal Casal (Chris Robinson Band, Ryan Adams & The Cardinals).

“…a singer/songwriter can make his or her rep on two things: excellent songwriting and an eye for small musical details. Fortunately for Susan James her fourth LP Highways, Ghosts, Hearts & Home has both…Even when James isn’t messing with the formula, she’s still a step above her contemporaries.”–Blurt Online.

While Susan has made a splash performing solo with just her voice and acoustic guitar, she can also be seen with her band and all the while expanding her lyrical and musical reach, all through her psychedelic, country-folk lens.

Previous recordings have included folks like Tommy Stinson (Replacements) and D.J. Bonebrake (X). And live, Susan still performs with Mr. Bonebrake and other super-talented musicians who have a fondness for her unique style.

It is James, however, who stands as the guiding force behind her music and albums, creating what she calls “California Hybrid” music – melodic psychedelic country folk rock. The Southern California native was greatly influenced by all the great L.A. bands like the Beach Boys and the Byrds, but she also had family in Central California and the Bay Area so she was exposed to those regions’ music too.

The idea of becoming a musician dawned on James at the age of eight when two high school students came to her classroom and performed songs like “Love Potion #9” and “They Call The Wind Mariah.” This experience, says James, “was like a veil lifted from my eyes and at that very moment I knew what I wanted to do.” She later majored in Ethnomusicology at UCLA. Her studies helped to expose her to different styles of music, which she has incorporated into her own music from time to time. James, however, feels that it is important to write from her own perspective and the melting pot of cultures that she lives around today in Southern California.

After college, James embarked on a music career. While enjoying some success around California, her big break came in an unusual way. Following one of her regular gigs at the Palo Alto club St. Michael’s Alley, James was asked how much money she would need to record an album. She guessed $10,000. “I had no idea at the time because I’d never been in the studio before,” James admits. A week later, a fan shyly handed her a brown paper bag filled with $9,999. The man, who introduced himself as Burrell Smith (the early Apple computer whiz), explained that his accountant said that $10,000 would adversely affect his taxes. She used that money to finance her first album, Life Between Two Worlds.

She has since released three other indie full-length albums- "Shocking Pink Banana Seat", "Fantastic Voyage" (a double CD set of songs and instrumentals), and 2011's "Highways, Ghosts, Hearts & Home".

While always remaining accessible, Susan James’ uniqueness reminds us of a past review of her in the Los Angeles Times, “James' long blond hair and folk-based songs have caused her to be compared to Joni Mitchell. The inventiveness of her eight-song set, however, showed that James is perhaps most like Mitchell because she is like no one else.”

Through the years, James has performed across America, Canada and Europe. She has toured as the opening act for Lindsey Buckingham, Bob Weir & Rob Wasserman, Ratdog and Richard Buckner as well as sharing the bill with folks like Son Volt, Richard Thompson, David Lindley, Daniel Lanois and Rufus Wainwright and quite a few more. Her music has been licensed for TV and Independent films, and she has guested on other friends' albums such as The High Llamas (albums "Buzzle Bee" and "Beets, Maize & Corn"), and the late Mary Hansen's (of Stereolab) "The Horizontalist".

James now is preparing to release album number five, and she feels extremely excited about the particularly creative time period she is experiencing. “I'm just hungry, happy to be back in it full-on, hungry to prove myself again, hungry to better myself, to make something people will truly enjoy beginning to end.”