Award winning Producer, songwriter,composer and multi-instrumentalist.
His Thirty-year career has ranged across a vast spectrum of musical genres, as well as a string of major commissions for film, TV and theatre.
In March 2006 Jim received the Creative Scotland award 2006 for artists of distinction and originality. The reward honours and celebrates leading artists in Scotland and it is amongst the richest arts awards in Europe.
In the past two years alone he has, composed scores for several film and TV projects including the multi award winning feature film Festival( Best film at the British Comedy awards), produced the debut album by hotly-tipped roots/pop combo Aberfeldy, Young Forever, out on Rough Trade, directed a pioneering Scottish/Hungarian live collaboration featuring the renowned Marta Sebestyen and her group Muszikas, and premiered a brand-new multi-media song suite, Cold Weather Dancing, featuring a nine-piece band and live video mixing, commissioned by Glasgow's world-renowned Celtic Connections festival.
In 2005 He was keynote speaker at the Musicworks, the UK's New Music Convention and Festival, where he was interviewed by professor Simon Frith Chairman of the Mercury Music Awards.
As a founder member of pop trio The Lanterns, Jim was signed to Sony as a songwriter in 1997, with the group's debut single "Highrise Town", from their wisely-praised album, Illuminate Yer Heid, earning a UK Top 40 place and a number two in the dance charts.
He has performed and recorded with such luminaries as The Chieftains, Plant and Page (Led Zepelin), The Buhndu Boys, Billy Bragg, Emmylou Harris, Maddy Prior and June Tabor and the Shotts and Dyke head pipe band! He has produced more that 60 albums including, Salsa Celtica, Shooglenifty, Savourna Stevenson, The Whistlebinkies and Alyth McCormack.
His influential folk tune compositions have been recorded on more than one hundred CDs by artists all over the world.
Jim is currently writing music for and working with La Banda Europa A 35 piece European orchestra of ethnic instruments that he has put together. We have French hurdy Gurdies, Swedish hyckelharpas,Armenian duduks,Serbian brass and woodwind, Spanish dulcaina and pandaretas, Austrian Klesmer acordian, turkish drums and the bagpipes of five countries! The project provides a unique opportunity to compose a truly original musical score that explores the creative possibilities that occur when different cultures collide. Our first gigs this year were very well recieved. Check out his best friends for a link.....
Take a look at this youtube playlist of my music from thr Brittish Comedy Award winning film FESTIVAL
Here's a youtube playlist of my music from Seachd - The Inaccessible Pinnacle
Here's a youtube playlist of my music from TROUBLE SLEEPING
Check out this great wee video of La Banda Europa....
