jim wilson

"A real-deal songwriter..." Peter Cooper-Nashville Tennesseean

January 31st, 2006 Nightflying Magazine - Review by Doug Treadway
Jim Wilson reminds me a lot of Todd Snider, not that he sounds like him, but that they share a similar sensibility and verve, although Wilson leans more toward a hillbilly perspective. One song that is definitely different, not only from Todd Snider but also from anything else on Jim Wilsons latest release, is the excellent Somebody Elses Dream. I might go so far as to say this song is worth the price of the album. A neat little side note is that Jims son Jon did the clever cover art. The record is available at CDBaby.com November 21st, 2005

Review by William Ruhlmann - Allmusic.com
Jim Wilson is a country singer/songwriter based in Memphis, TN, who turns up frequently at the renowned songwriters' watering hole the Bluebird Caf in Nashville. On his second album, released by the independent label Ringo Records of Memphis, he sounds like a fairly typical aspiring country singer whose compositions deserve consideration in Nashville just as much as he himself does as a potential star. One often thinks of independent labels as a haven for the exotic and marginal, but Wilson is aiming right down the middle of the highway as far as contemporary country is concerned. A good example of his approach is "My Neighborhood," which is strikingly similar musically to Montgomery Gentry's 2002 country hit "My Town," even if it sounds like a deliberately constructed answer record. The honky tonk duo celebrated the town they observed, but Wilson decries the deterioration and loss of community in the neighborhood he describes. Those are big issues to a singer who begins the album with "Southern Town," which depicts a young man's wanderings and failures, but concludes, "Now I got kids of my own and we're on solid ground/We all live in a Southern town." The album's other songs also concern working-class lives, aspirations and disappointments, and the vagaries of love, and Wilson sets them to familiar country-rock arrangements with lots of twangy guitar work courtesy of producer Steve Wenger. There is little of the quirkiness and particularity one expects of small-label singer/songwriters, but plenty of major-label homogeneity, suggesting that Wilson would make a good pickup for a Nashville company that could put enough promotional muscle behind him to enable him to compete with Alan Jackson, Kenny Chesney, and the rest of the contemporary country elite.
November 20th, 2005 "Discovering an artist like Jim Wilson is what makes this business of music so rewarding. Listening to the grade-A production of Jim's soulful songs on "This Old House" makes me long for how good country radio could be if they were less concerned with Los Angeles and New York and a little more interested in what living a real life entails."
--Americana Tonight October 29th, 2005 Jim Wilson on the GRAMMY voting ballot! Jim's 'This Old House' has been included in the voting list for the Grammys in two categories: Best Male Country Vocal Performance and Best Country Song.

"Southern Town" draws you right into this album. The sound, sentiment and performance remind me of the early recordings of Bruce Springsteen. The lyrics of this song speak to our understanding of all small towns, worldwide. As someone once remarked, "write about the local and you will reach a global audience."Jim Wilson has an eye for detail and the talent to write it into his songs. This is very evident on "My Neighborhood." Again he takes truths that we all can empathize with. Urbanization is a sort of curse whether in America, Africa or Ireland. We must take the good with the bad, but we do not get to choose. A telling section of the song recalls a neighbor who was not liked. He moved and what replaced him was worse. Now he would welcome him back. Ever found that?My top track on the album is "Old Hands." It pays tribute to veterans of past conflict. In particular, this is for his grandfather. It does not glorify war but it eulogizes those who found themselves in the middle of battles not of their making. I loved the fiddle section. The wonderful "Somebody Else's Dream" has a classic sound that fits beautifully with lyrics and sentiments.This album is a family in music and song. The CD comes with an insert decorated by one of the next generation of Wilson's.by Nicky Rossiter Rambles.NET MyGen Profile Generator