Jim Perkins

(video and pictures) - Augusta Chronicle Metro

(video and pictures) - Augusta Chronicle Metro

Music lovers can get in the holiday spirit with the annual 12 Bands of Christmas concert and CD – and also contribute to a worthy cause.
This year’s concert and CD features Five’s A Crowd, 3rd Shift, Joy Krueger, Vellotones, Jaycie Ward, Livingroom Legends, Wombats, Jim Perkins, Fried Goat, The Unmentionables, Radar Cinema and Sibling String. Set for release on Nov. 8, the 12 Bands CD, Volume VIII can be ordered at www.12Bands.org. For the first time, every song on the CD is an original track.
Several of the 12 Bands artists are joined on the album by other musicians. Joy Krueger performs with the Wesley Church Praise Band, and the Vellotones perform with Georgia Music Hall of Fame member George Croft.
On Dec. 18, each band will play at the annual 12 Bands concert at the Imperial Theatre. Tara Scheyer & the Mudpuppy Band is absent from this year’s lineup, but she and her band will be releasing a holiday CD, performing for children and donating a portion of proceeds to 12 Bands.
The 12 Bands of Christmas started in 2001 with a mission to raise funds to fight pediatric cancer. In 2003, a recorded CD was added. In the past decade, 12 Bands has raised more than $250,000.
To help fight childhood cancer, the public can visit www.12Bands.org to make a donation, buy a raffle ticket for the 12 Bands/12 Kids campaign or purchase merchandise.
For more information, contact Joe Stevenson at director@12Bands.org or at (706) 664-5595. - Augusta Chronicle Applause

Music lovers can get in the holiday spirit with the annual 12 Bands of Christmas concert and CD – and also contribute to a worthy cause.
This year’s concert and CD features Five’s A Crowd, 3rd Shift, Joy Krueger, Vellotones, Jaycie Ward, Livingroom Legends, Wombats, Jim Perkins, Fried Goat, The Unmentionables, Radar Cinema and Sibling String. Set for release on Nov. 8, the 12 Bands CD, Volume VIII can be ordered at www.12Bands.org. For the first time, every song on the CD is an original track.
Several of the 12 Bands artists are joined on the album by other musicians. Joy Krueger performs with the Wesley Church Praise Band, and the Vellotones perform with Georgia Music Hall of Fame member George Croft.
On Dec. 18, each band will play at the annual 12 Bands concert at the Imperial Theatre. Tara Scheyer & the Mudpuppy Band is absent from this year’s lineup, but she and her band will be releasing a holiday CD, performing for children and donating a portion of proceeds to 12 Bands.
The 12 Bands of Christmas started in 2001 with a mission to raise funds to fight pediatric cancer. In 2003, a recorded CD was added. In the past decade, 12 Bands has raised more than $250,000.
To help fight childhood cancer, the public can visit www.12Bands.org to make a donation, buy a raffle ticket for the 12 Bands/12 Kids campaign or purchase merchandise.
For more information, contact Joe Stevenson at director@12Bands.org or at (706) 664-5595. - Augusta Chronicle Applause

FIRST SHOW: PJ's Coffee and Tea Cafe, Augusta, 2000. "(The coffeehouse) gave me, I think, $25, and I was unbelievably excited. I had an amp, and I plugged everything into that amp, my mike and everything. I just sat there and tried not to screw up for an hour. Had a good time, and I was nervous as I could be. It was awesome." - Augusta Chronicle

FIRST SHOW: PJ's Coffee and Tea Cafe, Augusta, 2000. "(The coffeehouse) gave me, I think, $25, and I was unbelievably excited. I had an amp, and I plugged everything into that amp, my mike and everything. I just sat there and tried not to screw up for an hour. Had a good time, and I was nervous as I could be. It was awesome." - Augusta Chronicle

This episode of COL,...features in-studio guest Jim Perkins who performs as well as talks about tunes from his two new CDs... - Confederation of Loudness

This episode of COL,...features in-studio guest Jim Perkins who performs as well as talks about tunes from his two new CDs... - Confederation of Loudness

LIVE MUSIC: JIm PERKINS Local musician Prepares for Nashville move with New CD in Hand
Singer/songwriter Jim Perkins took an unconventional road establishing himself as a musician. He did not pick up a guitar or write songs until he was in college. An Augusta native, he grew up in a rural area with no access to cable or music videos, so he taught himself to play without the advantage of watching the artists on television. Thus, it should come as no surprise that his second and third albums — Broken Record Reasons, a band project, and Jim Perkins Live, recorded at a solo acoustic performance — buck the industry trends and are being released simultaneously.
Perkins stays busy. He gigs consistently in the Georgia/South Carolina area, is a go-to guy to open for acoustic touring artists and has a CD release show on March 19. His wife and he are also preparing for relocation to Nashville in July. He spoke to verge about his road to the stage and the craft of songwriting.
“My job is to get the audience going. It’s not about me.”
– JIm PERKINS
VERGE: You began playing guitar and writing in college. How much experience did you have?
PERKINS: I was shoved out to sing solos in youth groups at church, but I was nervous and didn’t like the attention. I also thought everybody had the same voice I did. My parents and my sister all could sing and I was around soloists. From age 9 to 13, I was in singing groups and youth choir. My father played guitar and sang in dance bands like the Red Hots, and his voice was compared to Perry Como and Tennessee Ernie Ford. My mom had perfect pitch. My sister, who is eight years older than I am, also loved music and she played piano. My parents decided not to force an instrument on me and, ironically, I was the one who wanted to play and write. English came easily to me and when I was younger I wrote poetry. I wanted to play an instrument and I couldn’t take a piano with me, so I went with electric and acoustic guitar. I began with acoustic. My dad had a cheap, 50-year-old guitar and I tried to learn chords on it. Then I got a better guitar that I put on layaway at A World Of Music. I visited it every month and paid $50 until I paid it off. Seven years ago I got a beautiful Taylor 614ce.
I really enjoyed how music brings people together. In church and camp, I was around people the same age and we were brought together by sports and music. I kind of naturally felt comfortable about performing after a while and, when people you don’t know say you’re good, you listen to them. I slowly realized that maybe I have talent and I should try to do something with it. In college, I began playing at Borders and PJ’s Coffeehouse. I had no demo, so I would learn songs and audition for them and I got hired. I kept doing this over and over. I gained credibility in Augusta and Columbia and I could pick where I wanted to play. I wanted to play original material, but Augusta is not an originals town, so I had to learn covers.
VERGE: When did your songwriting develop? PERKINS: “Charleston” was the first song I wrote that actually had verse, chorus and bridge. It had
only three chords because that’s all I knew at the time. It’s on my first album [Maker Of Dreams], but I do a completely different version today. It needed a groove, so I reformulated it and made it interesting. Song ideas come at different times. I have books filled with couplets, and sometimes I randomly put them together. Sometimes you write and only one minute of it is a gem. I keep everything because you never know. I continually grow and get better at my craft. You can rewrite all day long. It’s hard to put a stamp on it and say, “This is what I permanently want to do.” It’s amazing that you ever release anything.
VERGE: You released your first album in 2002 and then traveled the U.S. and Canada with the North American Mission Board’s World Changers. Were you still involved with music?
PERKINS: Yes. I was on the North Team for 10 or 12 weeks. We had people from churches in different states. We rebuilt houses and worked with youth doing video and audio by day. We played music at night. I came back to Augusta, played music at night and caddied at the Augusta National as my day job. In 2006, I played 220 shows. I had a lot of free time and I dug in deep. I played in the Southeast, spent nine months in Casper, Wyoming, got calls in Augusta and picked up where I left off. I played music in churches, traveled to venues and played in Charleston a lot.
VERGE: When did you begin traveling to Nashville? PERKINS: In 2006, I was playing a coffeehouse and a guy walked up and said, “You should meet
my brother-in-law; he’s in the music business in Nashville.” Of course, I’d heard this before, but I drove up to meet him. I played three songs and he set me up with other meetings. Since then, I’ve kept in touch with the people I met there.
VERGE: You opened for John Corabi, you’re opening for Zach Myers, you’re doing some solo gigs and you have - Verge Magazine

LIVE MUSIC: JIm PERKINS Local musician Prepares for Nashville move with New CD in Hand
Singer/songwriter Jim Perkins took an unconventional road establishing himself as a musician. He did not pick up a guitar or write songs until he was in college. An Augusta native, he grew up in a rural area with no access to cable or music videos, so he taught himself to play without the advantage of watching the artists on television. Thus, it should come as no surprise that his second and third albums — Broken Record Reasons, a band project, and Jim Perkins Live, recorded at a solo acoustic performance — buck the industry trends and are being released simultaneously.
Perkins stays busy. He gigs consistently in the Georgia/South Carolina area, is a go-to guy to open for acoustic touring artists and has a CD release show on March 19. His wife and he are also preparing for relocation to Nashville in July. He spoke to verge about his road to the stage and the craft of songwriting.
“My job is to get the audience going. It’s not about me.”
– JIm PERKINS
VERGE: You began playing guitar and writing in college. How much experience did you have?
PERKINS: I was shoved out to sing solos in youth groups at church, but I was nervous and didn’t like the attention. I also thought everybody had the same voice I did. My parents and my sister all could sing and I was around soloists. From age 9 to 13, I was in singing groups and youth choir. My father played guitar and sang in dance bands like the Red Hots, and his voice was compared to Perry Como and Tennessee Ernie Ford. My mom had perfect pitch. My sister, who is eight years older than I am, also loved music and she played piano. My parents decided not to force an instrument on me and, ironically, I was the one who wanted to play and write. English came easily to me and when I was younger I wrote poetry. I wanted to play an instrument and I couldn’t take a piano with me, so I went with electric and acoustic guitar. I began with acoustic. My dad had a cheap, 50-year-old guitar and I tried to learn chords on it. Then I got a better guitar that I put on layaway at A World Of Music. I visited it every month and paid $50 until I paid it off. Seven years ago I got a beautiful Taylor 614ce.
I really enjoyed how music brings people together. In church and camp, I was around people the same age and we were brought together by sports and music. I kind of naturally felt comfortable about performing after a while and, when people you don’t know say you’re good, you listen to them. I slowly realized that maybe I have talent and I should try to do something with it. In college, I began playing at Borders and PJ’s Coffeehouse. I had no demo, so I would learn songs and audition for them and I got hired. I kept doing this over and over. I gained credibility in Augusta and Columbia and I could pick where I wanted to play. I wanted to play original material, but Augusta is not an originals town, so I had to learn covers.
VERGE: When did your songwriting develop? PERKINS: “Charleston” was the first song I wrote that actually had verse, chorus and bridge. It had
only three chords because that’s all I knew at the time. It’s on my first album [Maker Of Dreams], but I do a completely different version today. It needed a groove, so I reformulated it and made it interesting. Song ideas come at different times. I have books filled with couplets, and sometimes I randomly put them together. Sometimes you write and only one minute of it is a gem. I keep everything because you never know. I continually grow and get better at my craft. You can rewrite all day long. It’s hard to put a stamp on it and say, “This is what I permanently want to do.” It’s amazing that you ever release anything.
VERGE: You released your first album in 2002 and then traveled the U.S. and Canada with the North American Mission Board’s World Changers. Were you still involved with music?
PERKINS: Yes. I was on the North Team for 10 or 12 weeks. We had people from churches in different states. We rebuilt houses and worked with youth doing video and audio by day. We played music at night. I came back to Augusta, played music at night and caddied at the Augusta National as my day job. In 2006, I played 220 shows. I had a lot of free time and I dug in deep. I played in the Southeast, spent nine months in Casper, Wyoming, got calls in Augusta and picked up where I left off. I played music in churches, traveled to venues and played in Charleston a lot.
VERGE: When did you begin traveling to Nashville? PERKINS: In 2006, I was playing a coffeehouse and a guy walked up and said, “You should meet
my brother-in-law; he’s in the music business in Nashville.” Of course, I’d heard this before, but I drove up to meet him. I played three songs and he set me up with other meetings. Since then, I’ve kept in touch with the people I met there.
VERGE: You opened for John Corabi, you’re opening for Zach Myers, you’re doing some solo gigs and you have - Verge Magazine

Jim's a trooper...put out 2 CDs earlier this year...a live CD and a studio CD...Jim's got the goods, man...He's a great singer-songwriter... - Lokal Loudness radio show/podcast

Jim's a trooper...put out 2 CDs earlier this year...a live CD and a studio CD...Jim's got the goods, man...He's a great singer-songwriter... - Lokal Loudness radio show/podcast