About Jim, in his own words and pictures...

I was born in New York City and grew up in the Bronx in the 1960’s.

My first musical influence was my Uncle Willie, a singer/guitarist who would perform at the drop of a hat (songs like “Old Man Tucker”, “You Are My Sunshine” and “Coming Round the Mountain”). Around that time I saw The Beatles first performance on the ED Sullivan Show; it has been said that millions of musicians were spawned that night and I was one of them.

I started taking guitar lessons with a little old man with a gigantic thumbnail. I assume he used it for a pick, though I can’t recall ever seeing him play. I hadn’t mastered much more than “Jingle Bells” when my family moved to New Jersey, where my guitar, an “Egmond” sat in the corner of my room for the next two years.I eventually joined a band. I couldn’t play one chord, but I met the sole qualification of owning a guitar. I learned to play by figuring out one song at a time, mostly Beatles, Stones and Monkees. I even ended up playing bass for a while. I used to read the bass notes in treble clef, which means that every note you play is wrong.

The music you hear playing is Jim's rendition of "While My Guitar Gently Weeps"

from Jim's "Cheap Guitars" CD, available here. 

It wasn’t long before I was back on guitar and I bought my first electric instrument, a “Zen On”, purchased from my friend Kenny for $12.00. That’s us on the back cover of the Cheap Guitars CD, with me playing the Zen On and Kenny playing his new Kingston…

My dream at the time was to get a Fender Princeton Reverb Amp; over the next year I saved my paper route money until I could buy one. I still have that Princeton and it still sounds great. For a while I used a screaming hundred watt Traynor amp with six ten inch speakers, which is probably the reason I am half deaf in my left ear.

I continued to develop as a guitarist and I decided to pursue music more seriously in college. I learned theory, chords, scales, reading and how to solo on a jazz tune. I practiced up to six hours a day, began teaching guitar lessons and joined an established band called “Alias”. I played with them until I moved to Los Angeles in 1979.

Click to read CA Newspaper review:

In LA I made very little money, though I played in several bands, including one that came close to being signed by Mercury Records. A top A&R guy came to about ten of our gigs. At first he had high praise and instilled in us confidence we would be signed.Gradually he came to criticize every aspect of the band, causing tension among members and the rift that eventually broke up the band.

After four years in LA I became disgusted with the scene and moved back to New Jersey. I decided at that point that I would play music for the love of it and not for fame and fortune.

Once back in New Jersey I re-formed Alias and continued to play with them for twenty years. I also played in other bands over the years.  Funny thing about my slide playing, I never practiced it, but for some reason that's what I am always recognized for.

Lately I've been playing with The Flamethrowers Blues Band and The Peach Project as well as duos with Captain Mike Ventimiglia and others.