Jim Adams, guitarist

Click here for a solo sound sample!

Jim Adams started playing music in the late 50's, beginning with "The Streets of Loredo" on the ukelele. ("Hate to admit it, but that was actually before the Smothers Brothers changed the words and turned it into a comedy routine!")

In the mid 60's, Jim began playing violin in the school orchestra and rock & roll in a band called "The Sheiks," possibly the second coolest rock & roll band (there were two) at Redwood Junior High School. The transition from cowboy to rock & roll was not extremely difficult, as many rock & roll songs had no more chords than "The Streets of Loredo" (two!). His violin career ended after about three years due to irreconcilable differences with the orchestra director.

In the early 70's he spent a lot of time hanging around the "Guitar Workshop," a weekly gathering of guitar pickers & singers in Saratoga, CA. At the workshop he was able to learn from great local musicians such as Rich Olson, Chris Caswell, Jerry McMillan and Larry Drummond. With college roommates Tom & Marshall Yacoe, he later formed "The Jagwires," a bluegrass band that played in local clubs (on open mike nights) in Berkeley and San Francisco. After moving to Humboldt County in 1977, he has played in restaurants, church services and stood in for an injured guitarist in a band named "Patchwork."

  

In the early 80's was part of a loose-knit group of bluegrass players who played for weddings, where he met violinist (or fiddler, in that case), Rob Diggins.

Now in the 2000’s, Jim is playing jazz guitar with the Cuckoo's Nest and loving every minute. He even sings a tune or two!

"My major influences are Django Reinhardt, Birelli Lagrene, Jorma Kaukonen, Gordon Lightfoot, James Taylor, Leo Kottke, Doc Watson, Norman Blake and particularly David Grisman Quintet guitarists Tony Rice and Mark O'Connor. The David Grisman Quintet used to play Django Reinhardt's "Swing 42," which got me interested in Django's music. I bought a book of Django's tunes in the 70's, but for the most part let it sit on the bookshelf for years until the formation of the Cuckoo's Nest.

I'm pretty much obsessed with the sound of the acoustic guitar, and getting the best tone I can out of the instrument."

  

Equipment

"I use a 1941 Gibson L-7 (non-cutaway) - the "poor man's L-5". Gibson made non-cutaway L-7s from 1932-1956. Spruce top, maple back & sides, sunburst finish, double parallelogram fingerboard inlays, rosewood fingerboard & bridge, parallel top bracing. Amplified either by Countryman hypercardioid microphone run through an Art Tube Preamp into a PA system, or by a DeArmond "guitar mike," a floating pickup that rides on a rod that is clamped to the strings between the bridge and tailpiece, run into a vintage Fender Twin Reverb amplifier. The DeArmond's volume and tone controls are housed in a box that also attaches to the clamp on the strings, and there is a pushbutton switch to go from rhythm to lead (primarily a volume increase). The original cord connection was a screw-on fitting, but the housing on this one was modified by Players Guitars in San Rafael to use a 1/8" jack. The whole pickup assembly can be installed or removed in a matter of a minute or so, and leaves no marks on the guitar. While the DeArmond pickup is handy, the countryman microphone produces an acoustic tone that is more true to the music we are playing."