Jim started on the Tyneside folk scene in the early 60s and played solo and with brother Phil , and with Mick and Kevin Doonan who then went on to better things when Jim  moved  to London. in London Jim sang in many of the early clubs including a couple of forays into the Singers Club ( to the distaste of the chap who ran it ) and frequently the late night Troubadour ( just along the road from where he lived) .  

In subsequent decades Jim ran folk clubs  and  folk concerts in London and played in clubs in many parts of the UK and was even on the committee of the EFDSS for a term. Now Jim performs solo again and with son Luke and the Too Good To Hurry Band.

Jim's son Luke was pressed into playing fiddle with Jim at a very early age , before he could complain or resist , but then broke free and took up saxes , trumpet and trombone, playing funk , hip-hop and ska.  Luke sometimes tries , unsuccessfully, to explain to Jim what all that means.   Luke has played in bands at Glastonbury, Shakespeare's Globe and the Moscow Kremlin.(yes, really - that one) and  now returns to the fold from time to time and adds an imaginative accompaniment to Jim's traditional and homebrew  songs.