| Jim Bartholomew Music

Welcome to my website. My name is Jim Bartholomew, but you can call me Jimmy.

Quick Disclaimer: Nothing written here, on any of these pages, is THE TRUTH. It’s only my past as I remember it. I apologize in advance for any inaccuracies, Thank You.

Since I’ve been old enough to be just about anything, I’ve been an Entertainer. From the time I was a kid growing up in a working class Polish neighborhood on the Northwest side of Chicago, I’ve been a lover of all types of music. Our house was always filled with music, from pre-WWII 78’s to Broadway musical soundtracks, and from “Victory at Sea” to pop songs on the radio. My Mom played the accordion and sang like an angel. I would join her, playing the songs melody on the trumpet from old sheet music with wonderful illustrations on the covers. My first performance with a band was performing the “Santa Claus is Coming” Polka on the trumpet, with two of my buddies on drums and accordion, in a grade school talent show.

What really reached me the most, though, was the sound of the singers. I was fascinated by the great crooners of popular music and it was my introduction to the singers and songwriters of the folk revival that made me feel that, maybe, I could be a singer too. What sealed the deal was seeing the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan Show. The joy and fun in their performance turned an interest into a life-long pursuit.

I started playing guitar by studying every song in “The Golden Beatles” songbook. The Beatles, the Byrds, Roy Orbison and the Brill Building pulled me in. As the 60’s came to a close, I ended my brief enrollment in the garage band school of music (mostly playing horn in soul bands), traded my electric twelve-string for an acoustic guitar, and was introduced to the Coffeehouse music scene while at school in De Kalb, Illinois. Days of back-porch picking and singing exposed me to all sorts of traditional music, bluegrass & acoustic blues which led to a total abandoning of academia and a turn to the small folk clubs in Chicago.

My introduction to folk audiences was in dimly-lit coffeehouses in the early 70’s, but since then I have performed, not only in small clubs, but also on some of the largest stages in the nation. I have played with some of Chicago’s best musicians, working 200 plus dates per year for decades and have been privileged to be the featured vocalist with some of the most popular bar bands in Chicago and the suburb. My bands have been featured at the Old Town School of Folk music, played at the initial Taste of Chicago and done shows at numerous colleges, state and county fairs. We have appeared in concert with Jethro Burns, The Osborne Brothers, Fleetwood Mac, The Kingston Trio, Richey Furay, Loretta Lynn, Tom T. Hall, Marty Robbins and other major artists.

The full story of my “long strange trip” through the world of popular music is told on the pages dedicated to some of the most significant bands with whom I’ve played and sung. The road begins in the 70’s with the story of my most first and most long-lasting musical affiliations, Cactus Jack and Cahoots. It continues with the Maroons, a band of veteran rockers (including John Prine’s guitarist and collaborator, John Burns) that I helped form in the 80’s to indulge my love for original rock, classic 60’s pop, and soul music. Since then I have continued to perform as a solo artist and as featured vocalist with popular Chicago groups the Walter Williams Band, the White Saddle Band and The MojoSkillet.

My creative passion and desire to entertain has only grown over the years. I have always wanted to write and record my own songs and the end of the millennium saw the release of my first solo album, First Takes, a collection of original songs featuring me on guitar, vocals & harmonica. A decade later I recorded my second solo CD, Bear River, with my son, Will Wisniewski, as producer, collaborator, and recording engineer. It is available through Band Camp, as is the five-song MojoSkillet EP/CD, Learn To Dance. Will and I are also working on my next solo recording, The Prairie Farmer, to be released soon.

The emergence of the coffeehouse/bookstore acoustic music scene, followed by the introduction of live music to wine bars, breweries and distilleries, has helped bring my career as a performer full-circle. Small, local venues have provided a place for me and my selected “accomplices” to present new songs and old in an intimate format. Working with my good friend from the White Saddle Band, Rich Nelson, in the duo ON the AIR, has brought acoustic versions of many of the songs that I have played in the past to new audiences. With similar tastes and backgrounds, Rich and I have spent the last decades exploring exactly how much can be achieved musically with only two well-matched voices and simple but appropriate instrumentation.

Whether solo or with band in tow, I am once again finding people who simply want to be entertained and hear some well-played and sung music. I enjoy facing a good audience and try to greet people with good-humor and an eagerness to share the sounds that I first experienced on the radio, in concert, and eventually down America’s highways and back roads. Luckily, I have found a new friendly place where I can regularly set out on my musical excursions. I have been at the Copper Fiddle, in Lake Zurich, with my musical partner, Rich Nelson, “in residence” every Wednesday night for going on six years. We can also be found at the Fiddle on many weekends, either as solo performers, together in ON the AIR, or with one or the our other bands. The newest version of the White Saddle Band plays in Chicago at Carol’s Pub, in Berwyn at Fitzgerald’s, in Wauconda at Main Street Outfitters, at street fairs, concert halls, or wherever people enjoy a good song, an old joke and a cold beverage. It’s been nearly 50 years and still, as the song says, “the end is not in sight”.