Jim embarked on a life-long journey of playing the guitar and singing in his teen-age years. He spent most of his spare time hanging out at a local, family-owned music store where he picked up many guitar skills through jamming with other musicians playing the good, old-time country and western swing music standards. In the back of this music store was a recording studio which instilled a dream in the back of Jim’s mind of some day recording his own music. That dream manifested itself in early 2006 when his CD, “Cattle, Trails, and Romance” was released. He has now gone on to release others.
During his musical journey he always had a full-time job providing for his family, but he continued enjoying his music even learning to play the fiddle which opened a new area of music—old-time fiddling and contest fiddling. It was after selling his RV dealership that he began his teaching, performing, song-writing, and recording career. He keeps grounded by maintaining a rigorous teaching schedule for two-full days a week that includes, at most times, 54 students of fiddle and/or guitar.
Back in 2002 Jim was introduced to cowboy music at the Gene Autry Oklahoma Film and Music Festival. It was then that he really discovered and came to love the soothing quality and character of western cowboy music. Since that time he has thoroughly immersed himself in the cowboy-era music, the movie cowboys, and more contemporary artists who reflect on the cowboy life.
Jim has performed publicly at numerous venues around the country: The National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum, Oklahoma City; Cheyenne Cowboy Symposium, Wyoming; Western Music Association Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, New Mexico; Cedar Depot Memorial Celebration, Cedar, Kansas; Gene Autry Oklahoma Film & Music Festival, Gene Autry, Oklahoma; Acoustacadia Music Festival, Edmond, Oklahoma; Western Heritage Days-Tom Mix Festival, Dewey, Oklahoma; Miles of Memories Country Music Festival, Hastings, Nebraska.
Audiences young and old enjoy Jim's rich, melodious voice, his remarkable guitar skills and his all-around gregarious, outgoing spirit and love of music. Come discover the character and quality of this cowboy western genre that brings back memories of the pure music of an earlier time.
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