Jim James

Jim James, born James Edward Olliges Jr. on April 27, 1978 in Louisville, Kentucky, is an American vocalist, guitarist, producer and primary songwriter best known as the frontman of the indie‑rock band My Morning Jacket. Growing up in the Highlands‑Douglass neighborhood, he attended St. Martha grade school and graduated from St. Xavier High School in 1996 before briefly enrolling at the University of Kentucky. In the early 1990s he performed with local Louisville groups such as Hotel Roy and Month of Sundays, honing a versatile style that blended psychedelic rock, folk and jam improvisation. By 1998 he had co‑founded My Morning Jacket, where his soaring falsetto and layered guitar textures helped define the band’s critically acclaimed sound on albums like The Tennessee Fire and It Still Moves. James’s songwriting earned him an “Esky” for best songwriter in Esquire’s 2006 music awards, and his reputation as a guitar innovator landed him on Rolling Stone’s “20 New Guitar Gods” list. Beyond the band, he has pursued a prolific solo career, releasing Regions of Light and Sound of God (2013), Eternally Even (2016) and the ambitious double‑album Uniform Distortion (2018), each project showcasing experimental production and introspective lyricism. He has also collaborated with supergroups such as Monsters of Folk, contributed to the New Basement Tapes project interpreting unfinished Bob Dylan songs, and appeared as a performer in the Bob Dylan biopic I’m Not There. An advocate of Transcendental Meditation since 2009, James frequently supports charitable concerts for the David Lynch Foundation and the Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary. His distinctive blend of soulful vocals, eclectic instrumentation—from omnichord to banjo—and commitment to artistic exploration continue to influence a new generation of indie and psychedelic musicians.