Jim Basnight Biography Distribution & Information: Precedent Records, 7616 Latona NE, Seattle, WA 98115 Phone: (206) 660-2471 jim@jimbasnight.com Booking Contact: BCD Entertainment, 7616 Latona NE, Seattle, WA 98115 Phone/Fax: (206) 729-5912 www.jimbasnight.com Media Reviews: “Jim Basnight is a true rock and roll warrior, fighting the good fight for decades now. He’s always been shaking up the rock music scene in some way, shape, or form” Bill’s Music Forum 2008 “Long before Seattle was the grunge rock capitol of America, it had a long history of rugged, tough-as-nails rock, beginning in the 1960s with garage rock stalwarts the Sonics and Wailers and culminating in the '80s with Jim Basnight and the Moberlys, a band that evoked the Beatles and the Rolling Stones at the same time, while turning out some of the decade's finest, if unfortunately obscure, new wave pop.” All Music 2008 “Fans of Little Steven's Underground Garage, we think you'll find plenty to dig here. So Jim, where have you been all our lives?” The Vinyl District 2008 “Attention, Jim Basnight is a power pop boy wonder” Powerpop Criminals 2008 “Jim Basnight ranks with The Heats as one of the great power-pop artists never to break out of the Pacific Northwest.” Cueburn 2007 "The sound of the Jim Basnight Band is an impressive blend of rock-flavored pop, with notable r+b tones. The OSU Daily Barometer 2004 "The ‘King of Pop’ for the Northwest may very well be Jim Basnight." The Montana Kaiman 2002 “Rightfully hailed as the man who helped introduce that ol' New Wave to the Pacific U. S. Northwest, Jim and his bands The Moberlys, Rockinghams, and most recently The Jim Basnight Thing have straddled many a musical hurdle - not to mention pigeon-hole - by sharing influences (and often stages) with everyone from Johnny Rivers and the Young Fresh Fellows to Suzanne Vega, The Police and even The Band.” Gary “Pig” Gold www.Tomlou.com 2001 "Jim Basnight has certainly covered a whole lot of ground over the past 20 years, creating a body of work dripping with quality and excitement. Unlike most performers, he can't be stereotyped, as each of his records offers something new and different." Rock Beat International, April 2000 "Basnight's an under-recognized figure in local rock circles who deserves credit not only for his resilience but for his continuing musical accomplishments." Seattle Weekly 1999 The Personnel: Born in Seattle, the Jim Basnight Band has members with extensive and unique musical backgrounds. The band, fronted by Jim Basnight on vocals and guitars, performs songs from all six of Jim’s unique CD’s as well as his new career retrospective “We Rocked and Rolled: The First 25 Years of Jim Basnight”. They are well versed in a number of styles including Rock from the 50’s through the 90’s, as well as Soul, Punk, Funk, Americana, Alternative and the Blues. Jim’s band has featured the continued and constant support of Mikel Rollins on bass, sax, guitar and flute since it’s inception on December 31st 1996. Having toured the Far East and West Coast many times, Rollins has played with numerous Blues, Jazz and Rock acts including Michael Powers, Lonnie Smith, and Isaac Scott. He is a road tested but vibrant bassist whose versatility is amazing. He has settled easily into the band, and fits its style like a glove, while performing a solo number with the band now and again. Brad “Mr. D” Dolsen is the drummer of the band. He grew up in the Puget Sound area where he played in bands that ranged marching bands and traditional Scandinavian folk ensembles to progressive, metal, funk, r+b and pop rock cover and original bands. He has done numerous recording sessions in Seattle and a handful while living in Los Angeles working in the fine art and fashion industries. He is a remarkable live performer that commands the stage, while providing more than a few grins with his larger than life drumming antics. Mike Rain is a excellent bassist, who doubles on the guitar, but his backing vocals could be his greatest contribution to the Basnight Band. Mike has been in numerous professional bands in the Seattle area over the past three decades. He has performed with many famous people including Floyd Rose, Adrian Belew, Black Oak Arkansas, Foghat and Sammy Hagar. Rain is an accomplished Singer-songwriter as well and released a solo CD “I Don’t Think So” in 1997. Mike sings occasional leads in the Jim Basnight Band. Garrett Gue is a bassist and guitarist who also does back up vocals well. He is a songwriter that started his career in his hometown of Bozeman, MT until relocating to Seattle in summer 2008. He played in professional bands in Montana from an early age and is well versed in r+b, rock, funk and blues. He has performed with John Hiatt, Soul Asylum and many regional names. His new CD titled “Tall Drink of Water” was released in December 2008. Garrett grew up in a musical family and his cousin Keith Howland currently plays guitar in Chicago. Discography Basnight's career has received acclaim from critics all over the world, starting with The Moberlys in the '80s up to The Rockinghams in the '90s and solo throughout. Discography includes the 2001 release "Seattle-New York-Los Angeles" by Jim Basnight and The Moberlys on the French record label Pop The Balloon; "Pop Top", a 1993 release recorded in Los Angeles and produced by Peter Buck of R.E.M. and other top producers; the 1999 Rockinghams CD "Makin' Bacon" released on Not Lame records; "The Jim Basnight Thing" released in 1997, and the Moberlys classic "Sexteen" released in 1997 on the German ATM/Bear Family label. "Recovery Room" is the most recent fully new release and possibly his most adventurous CD. It features a diverse mix of guitars, male and female vocals, drums, bass, violins, trumpets and sax. Mikel Rollins and Rockingham Jack Hanan provide the bass tracks while Jim’s longtime friend Ben Smith, currently of Heart drums, with the help of “Mr. D”. Jim Knodle provides a wide range of trumpet accompaniment and contributes as a co-writer on a handful of numbers. Co-producer Garey Shelton's longtime buddy, Bruce Hazen adds guitar, while Geoffrey Castle plays not only violin, but viola and cello to create a live string section effect in addition to many other idioms. Two female singers, the fabulous Susan Sims and the beautiful Marcella Carros provide vocal backing with help from Rain, Hazen, Hanan and Knodle. The Wizzard-In-Vinyl Label in Japan has released a best of the Moberlys compilation titled "Jim Basnight and the Moberlys Return" in June 2006. Italian vinyl label Rave-Up Records also released a Jim Basnight and the Moberlys LP "Pop Pleasure" in March 2006 as well. In December 2008 Disclosed Records in NYC released a career retrospective titled “We Rocked and Rolled: The First 25 Years of Jim Basnight: The Moberlys and Beyond”. It features 22 tracks representing all of Jim’s CD’s, plus a new version of the Moberlys classic “We Rocked and Rolled” performed by the current Jim Basnight Band (see above). Disclosed Records label owner Michael Stewart created the attractive and striking artwork, as well as serving as the CD’s executive producer. Basnight himself provided a very entertaining and informative set of liner notes. In these individual paragraphs he takes the time to talk about each song, touching on the times, people, places and inspirations behind each recording. Terry Derkach did a fantastic job of mastering at VRTCL Entertainment Studios in NYC. He's had his recordings released in the U.S., Canada, England, Germany, Spain, France, Scandinavia, Australia and Japan. Publications such as Rolling Stone Record Guide, the L.A. Times, the Village Voice, Billboard, the All Music Guide (to name just a few) have praised his diversified talents. Jim has made numerous Top 10 lists and Best of the Year lists. His career is chronicled in numerous books about rock & roll and in the Experience Music Project museum's Northwest exhibit. Other Accomplishments Jim's many accomplishments include composing a rock and roll musical, Little Rock, which had a long and successful run in Seattle and Pittsburgh. Little Rock received an award from The Seattle Times as 1995 best of the year in theatre, and was performed in Washington D.C. and Little Rock, Arkansas. In 1996, Goldmine Magazine named Jim's compilation album, "Retro", one of the Top 50 Power Pop albums of all time. Jim has performed at numerous venues with artists including The Ramones, The Band, The Police, R.E.M., Billy Idol, The Smithereens, The Bodeans, Johnny Rivers, Suzanne Vega, Steve Forbert, Violent Femmes, Eric Burdon, The Turtles and The Plimsouls. Jim scored a television show for PBS ("You're Hired . . . Now What?"), which aired nationally in November and December of 1996. Two songs from October 1997 Precedent Record CD release, "The Jim Basnight Thing", "Mexico" and "No More War", are featured in the film soundtrack "Friendly Fire", directed by American Film Institute Award winner Christy Davis. "Don't Dance With Strangers", a song off Pop Top, is featured in the film "Flooding", also in Los Angeles. In May 2008 his song “Papa Loves Mama” was performed by a pair of twins on the CMT contest show “Can You Duet”. Jim's music was used extensively on The Disney Channel series Z-Games in 1999. Jim has licensed about 40 tracks over the last 15 years to different "indie" labels large and small. Jim licensed The Moberlys classic "Sexteen" to the Sub Pop label, titled "Wild and Wooly", chronicling the history of NW Rock from the 50s to today. Jim and the band recently recorded a version of "I Can See For Miles" for a tribute to the Who for the NY based FDR label and "Happiness is a Warm Gun" for a Beatles Tribute on the Canadian label Bullseye titled "It was 40 Years Ago Today". He has also participated in tributes to Gene Clarke, the Left Banke and the Real Kids. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.