Jim James

James Edward Olliges Jr. (born April 27, 1978), professionally known as Jim James or Yim Yames, is an American vocalist, guitarist, producer, and primary songwriter of the rock band My Morning Jacket. He has also released several solo albums.

Early life
James grew up in the Highlands–Douglass neighborhood of Louisville, Kentucky. He attended St. Martha grade school and graduated from St. Xavier High School in 1996. James briefly attended the University of Kentucky.

Career

Prior to forming My Morning Jacket, James was the vocalist and guitarist of Month of Sundays, currently known as Mont de Sundua.

As the vocalist, frontman, producer, and lead songwriter for My Morning Jacket, James has been instrumental in defining the sound of the band. He was given an "Esky" for best songwriter in Esquire's 2006 Esky Music Awards in the April issue.

James typically plays rhythm guitar, acoustic guitar, and occasional lead guitar on My Morning Jacket songs. He played the role of the band leader in the Bob Dylan biopic I'm Not There, singing the song "Going to Acapulco", with Calexico as his backing band, which was featured on the soundtrack of the film. Rolling Stone listed James among their "20 New Guitar Gods" along with fellow My Morning Jacket guitarist Carl Broemel. In 2008, James, along with former My Morning Jacket guitarist and cousin Johnny Quaid, formed Removador Recordings and Solutions record label. The label, as described on its website, functions "on the simple principal of yielding the highest annual percentage of aural joy back into the hearts and minds of investors and shareholders with ease and convenience".

In 2009, he contributed vocals on The Decemberists' album The Hazards of Love. On April 4 that year, James performed at the Radio City Music Hall, New York City, in the "Change Begins Within" concert benefitting the David Lynch Foundation. On July 7, James released Tribute To, an EP covering George Harrison songs. A portion of the proceeds from the album were donated to the Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary. The EP was available on yimyames.com as both a digital download and a physical CD/LP. That same year, James and the rest of My Morning Jacket played themselves in "My Morning Straitjacket", an episode of the animated television series American Dad!

In 2012, Rounder Records released the Woody Guthrie tribute album New Multitudes which features songs covered by a variety of musicians including James (as Yim Yames) and Jay Farrar. James wrote an article on My Morning Jacket, discussing how the band got its name and growing up in Louisville, for the July 2012 issue of Louisville magazine. Bandmates Patrick Hallahan and Tom Blankenship also wrote articles for the issue.

James released his debut solo full-length album, Regions of Light and Sound of God, on ATO Records on February 5, 2013.

In early 2014, James recorded for Lost on the River: The New Basement Tapes alongside Elvis Costello, Marcus Mumford, Taylor Goldsmith and Rhiannon Giddens. The album was produced by T-Bone Burnett and is a compilation of partial songs written by Bob Dylan that were never released.

On November 5, 2015, the David Lynch Foundation organized another benefit concert at New York City's Carnegie Hall named "Change Begins Within" to promote transcendental meditation for stress control. Jim James participated with Katy Perry, Sting, Jerry Seinfeld, Angelique Kidjo, and classical guitarist Sharon Isbin. And since each of the performers actively practices transcendental meditation, they also spoke to its power.

In 2016, James played himself and sings in two episodes of the Showtime series Roadies. In November 2016, he released his second solo album Eternally Even.

James and Teddy Abrams co-wrote a suite of songs that were performed with the Louisville Orchestra on April 6 and 7, 2018 at the Kentucky Center for the Arts. On April 17, 2018, James announced the June 29 release of his third solo album of original material, Uniform Distortion. Along with the announcement was the release of a single and music video for the album's opening track "Just A Fool". Also, included with the announcement was a letter James wrote to photographer Duane Michals requesting use of his photograph "The Illuminated Man" for the album's cover art. James discovered the photo in the 1971 publication The Last Whole Earth Catalog, which he stated was a primary inspiration for the new album.

Personal life
James was raised Catholic and attended St. Martha School for grade school and St. Xavier for high school. He has been practicing Transcendental Meditation since 2009. He previously dated one of the singers in his solo touring band.

In 2008, he fell off the stage during a concert in Iowa, which inspired the recording of his first solo album. He has cited Richard Shannon Hoon, Roy Orbison, and Marvin Gaye as influences on his vocal style.

Discography

See also: My Morning Jacket discography

Solo

 Tribute To (2009, EP)
 New Multitudes (with Jay Farrar, Will Johnson and Anders Parker) (2012)
 Regions of Light and Sound of God (2013)
 Eternally Even (2016)
 Tribute To 2 (2017)
 Uniform Distortion (2018)
 Uniform Clarity (2018)
 The Order of Nature (with Teddy Abrams and the Louisville Orchestra) (2019)

Monsters of Folk
 Monsters of Folk (2009)

The New Basement Tapes
 Lost on the River: The New Basement Tapes (2014)

Guest appearances
 James sings backup vocals on the title track of Dr. Dog's 2010 album Shame, Shame
 James appears on The Sachal Ensemble album Song of Lahore (Universal, 2016)
 After the death of Bill Withers in 2020, he appeared as the musical guest on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert where he performed Wither's classic song, "Lean on Me"
 James appeared in the documentary, Good Trip: Adventures in Psychedelics

Equipment
 Gibson Custom ES-335 (Dot figured-top electric guitar with gloss finish honey burst) In 2021, he partnered with Gibson to release a signature guitar. In 2023, an Epiphone version of that guitar was released.

References

External links

 
 
 Brown, Catherine. Review of Regions of Light and Sound of God on Cool Album of the Day

1978 births
Living people
American male singer-songwriters
American rock songwriters
American rock guitarists
American male guitarists
American rock singers
Musicians from Louisville, Kentucky
My Morning Jacket members
St. Xavier High School (Louisville) alumni
Singer-songwriters from Kentucky
Rock musicians from Kentucky
20th-century American singer-songwriters
21st-century American singer-songwriters
20th-century American guitarists
21st-century American guitarists
American rock bass guitarists
Guitarists from Kentucky
Monsters of Folk members
American male bass guitarists
21st-century American bass guitarists
The New Basement Tapes members
ATO Records artists