“Anyone in the world wanting to understand American music could well start here.”
– Pete Seeger (about Rooney’s book BOSSMEN )
Special announcement:
Order the new previously unpublished novel by the late Nanci Griffith here
Jim Rooney is a folksinger. He is a leading member of the generation that came of age during the great folk music revival of the late 50s/early 60s for whom the moniker ‘folksinger’ encompassed not only performing but, like Alan Lomax, Mike Seeger, Paul Clayton, Dave Van Ronk, and others, also included folklore “scholarship” exploring related roots music.
Rooney’s career branched into many areas of bringing this heritage into the popular culture – from managing the quintessential Boston coffeehouse CLUB 47 to booking the NEWPORT FOLK FESTIVAL to publishing songs recorded by country music megastar GARTH BROOKS to producing albums of a number of the most influential post-Dylan singer-songwriters ( Nanci Griffith, Iris Dement, the late greats Townes Van Zandt and John Prine) to authoring works documenting the history of American folk music. A recent addition to this last category is a personal memoir, IN IT FOR THE LONG RUN .
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Both the Americana Music Association and the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) have honored Jim with their Lifetime DISTINGUISHED ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS.
