Ted Russell Kamp grew up in the northeast where he learned to play trumpet and bass. Initially his musical interest ran towards jazz, which explains his first record, an acoustic jazz record credited to Ted Kamp. He began his pursuit of a career in music after college in Seattle. With his first band Ponticello Kamp released four albums before relocating to Southern California.
Continuing in music, Kamp formed another band and began to seek work as a session musician. Playing with longtime friend Shooter Jennings turned into a full time job when he became the bass player in Shooter’s band. Kamp also wrote two of the songs on Jennings’ 2005 album