july 1, 2007

hey friends,

it’s been some time since i wrote! the biz is keeping me running, and it seems
i spend more time in my truck (which i call my office) than i do at home.
speaking of home, i have recently moved to an 800-acre ranch down the road
from luckenbach. my horses and my cat couldn’t be happier, and i’ve already
written some new songs on the front porch. on the subject of new songs, i’ve
been talking with my boys in austin, and we’ve decided to do the new cd there,
i had considered nashville, and i will probably do the third cd there, but
this just feels right.  it’s 90% official that we’ll start recording in
october and look at a christmas release. about time! as for what’s been
happening, in march i played on a country music cruise with mel tillis, suzy
boggus, colin raye and the bellamy bros. despite having bronchitis, i had a
cool experience.  mel is absolutely the classiest cat in the music business,
and the bellamy boys are crazy in the best way.  we’re looking at doing that
again this spring. in june, i produced charlie bishop’s debut cd.  charlie
is a dear friend and a great songwriter and it was truly a joy to do his
project.  in addition, i got to work with my old friend ben blank who
engineered the cd.  The cd features freddie krc on drums, bodie powell on
bass, and chris whitten (fiddle), artie passes(steel), and tracy martin (lead
guitar), all from kevin fowler’s band.  catherine burton sang beautifully, and
a good time and many laughs were had by all.  well, i think that got us caught
up!  keep an eye on the site, and i’ll let you know when we will officially
start the cd.

love,

j

february 8, 2007

hey folks,
 
much has happened since we visited last! my dear friend and manager martha raney 
went and got herself hitched to a fine texas gentleman, so she will be leaving 
my vast business empire to begin a new chapter in her life. please join me in 
congratulating martha and ricky on their marriage, and let's all keep them in 
our prayers.

i went out to terlingua for six days in january and stayed in a cabin up in 
the mountains. i spent some time writing and did some exploring. i played at 
the legendary starlight theater, which was a blast! many thanks to summer and 
chad for a great time.

on the 24th i will be setting sail for the dominican republic with 
mel tillis, suzy boggus, the bellamy brothers, and many more. i've never been 
out of the country except to go to acuna, so i'm pretty excited.

finally, i've opened a myspace.com site, so please stop by and visit me at 
www.myspace.com/jaysimsmusic. the schedule on myspace will be updated weekly, 
so this will be the best place to find out where i'm playing until i find some 
help maintaining jaysims.com.
 
thank you for all your hard work, martha, and all the best from your biggest fan!

y'all come see me,
j

				
december 3
dear friends,
 
it's been a busy time for me during a season that's usually pretty slow. 
the pickin' in the pines festival was a religious experience. many thanks to 
t-roy miller and his new wife candace, as well as mr. and mrs. miller 
(t's parents), who treated me very well and showed the band and me a great time. 
just after that, i went to nashville for the americana music conference, which 
was a blast! 

christmas is upon us, and i want to wish you all a very safe and happy holiday 
season. i have been very blessed this year, and i hope the same for all of you 
and your families.

may god bless you,
j

				
dateline nashville
september 21, 2006


i'm sitting in my hotel on music row after a huge plate of ribs and red beans, 
running on two hours of sleep on the side of the road between memphis and here. 
tomorrow is the first day of the amareicana music conference, where i'll be 
playing on thursday. i met two of my heroes today. singer-songwriter bruce robison 
is at my hotel, and i saw chris smither, fingerstyle guitar genius, at the bbq 
joint where i had dinner. cool!

last weekend i played t-roy miller's pickin' in the pines festival in pine mills, 
texas. the band and i had a blast, the crowd was phenominal, and we recorded the 
show. i haven't heard the tapes yet, but i'll let you know if it's my new cd or not.

october's schedule is pretty sparse, but that's ok for now. i need some rest! 
thanks to all who came out last weekend and to those here in nashtown for treating 
me so well. come out and see me when you can!

love, j

				
august 22, 2006


hey y'all,
 
my goodness, things are poppin' these days!
 
the private party i played in luckenbach on the 17th was a surprise 40th birthday party 
for lee ann womack. there were lots of music folks there, of course, including 
cross canadian ragweed, mark chessnut, stoney larue, and songwriting greats 
craig dillingham and sonny throckmorton (17 #1 country songs), among others.
 
looks like we will be having the house concert this sunday night in college staion 
with walt wilkins and cary swinney. i haven't seen cary in a couple of years, and i 
don't see enough of walt. looking forward to celebrating miss martha's birthday!  
join us for a great time in aggieland! (www.rockprairie.com)
 
hope to see all o' y'all out at pickin' in the pines for the live recording of the new cd
on september 16th.  chris langer, who engineered "so help me" will be flying in to 
turn the knobs, and it looks as though we might have video as well. see you there!
(www.t-roymiller.com)
 
i pray this finds you all doing well. come out and see me when you can!
 
love, j

june 26, 2006
 
good golly, it seems that every time we get to visit i begin with an apology for not 
keeping in touch, and today is no exception! the last time i wrote i was prparing to go 
to terlingua for a week to write. unfortunately, there was a death in my family and i was 
unable to leave town. since then, i have gotten involved in two new recording projects and
have been playing quite a bit. in addition, my not-so-little girl graduated from high 
school at the end of may, making me feel very proud and very old.
 
this last weekend i played the texas music nation celebration at tres rios in glen rose, 
texas. it's a benefit for the musicians emegency relief fund, which helps musicians in need. 
what a great time and a great bunch of folks! i don't get to see my dfw pals often enough, 
so it's very cool when most of 'em are all in one place.
 
it's the busy season in the hill country, with the tourism trade in full swing. i love this 
time of year, as i see lots of friends i've met in years past and new ones who are just 
discovering the hill country. i hope to see all of y'all real soon and i wish for each of 
you the very best of everything.
 
god bless, j 
				

april 5, 2006 


hey folks,
 
sorry we haven't visited recently. lots going on! since we last spoke i've made my second
trip to the white elephant, where i played with some great texas writers. i want to thank 
brett watts and all the songwriters who brought so much to the table. 

i'll be heading out to terligua for the last week of april to tweak and arrange the songs 
for the new cd. if you try to call or e-mail me, you might not have much luck. i guess 
that's kind of the idea. 

on a more somber note, we are all mourning the loss of the great buck owens. he was one 
of our last links to the classic country music of the 60's and 70's, which was such a 
magic time in musical history. i still remember watching his weekly show on tv, which was 
a family event at our house. watching buck and don rich tear it up on those twin silver 
telecasters made me want to play guitar. he will be missed! 

we have many new venues to play and towns to visit, so drop by the site often and throw 
us a note when you can.
 
love, j

january 25, 2006
 
hey kids, 
 
hope the new year is going well for everyone. things are taking off like a rocket here. i 
just agreed to produce a cd for a very talented austin songwriter, and i've got cool gigs 
coming up in san antonio, ft. worth and college station, as well as all the fun places i 
usually play. i'm also looking at playing in aspen this spring and heading to europe this 
summer. somewhere in there we'll be doing a new cd! 
 
i've mentioned recently that i'm enjoying a productive songwriting period, and it's still 
rolling that way. i'm so thankful for this time! just when it seems that the sky couldn't 
get any darker, God reminds me that there are things in which we can have faith. His love, 
of course, along with friends, family, and music will be there to comfort me when i need it
most. it is in this knowledge that i find my peace.

i wish all the same for each of you.

come see me!

love, j

december 24, 2005
 
hey friends, here's hoping you are all having a safe and happy christmas season. it's been a 
busy time here and, as usual, i'm doing lots of driving. sometimes i think i sleep better in 
my jeep than i do at home.
 
out here in luckenbach we are bidding farewell to one of our heroes, the honorable mr. tom 
bell. tom was a real man. he served in the navy, followed by celebrated careers in 
firefighting and law enforcement. in addition, he raced triumph motorcycles on the motocross 
circuit in california and was a huge nascar fan. tom came out to luckenbach just about every 
day at 12:30 and had a beer before going to lunch in fredericksburg, followed by his 
afternoon nap. then he'd come out again about 5:30 and drink beer with the "town council"-- 
his friends al, david, jody, andel, rick, bryan, wade, and all the rest. they cussed and 
discussed everything and nothing, and they launched a thousand indecisions. 

tom transitioned outa here at the age of 76. he was bigger than life, and we will miss him. 
 
y'all be sure to live loud and don't let opportunity pass you by. 

love, j

december 15, 2005


hey buckaroos, 


we haven't visited in awhile, but that usually means i'm very busy which is good. the good 
news is, i've been inspired to write alot. i'm currently riding the crest of the most 
prolific period of my life. 
 
hooked up with the core of my best band, the benders, for a show at the hyde park theater 
in austin. i was joined by eric flores on guitar and michael husted on string bass for a 
magical night. special thanks to ken webster and bennet brier for all their help, and to 
all those who came out for the show. very cool crowd, and hyde park theater is a great 
room! my daughter abigail closed the show with a dylan tune, the perfect ending to a perfect 
night. i hope to have some pics up on the site soon.
 
here's hoping that all of you have a very merry christmas and a happy new year. may God 
bless you all. 

peace and love, j

october 23, 2005
 
well folks, it has been quite a weekend. i played an american cancer society benefit in 
bracketville last night on the set of "the alamo" on the 45th anniversary of its release. 
i've known marisa wayne, john's youngest daughter, for almost four years now, and she came 
out for the event. she's very active in the fight against cancer, and it was sooooo great 
to see her again. i think she was surprised to find me playing there, and we had a nice 
reunion. she is one of the coolest people i know. we met sort of indirectly through a 
brilliant actor/director named barry tubb. you saw him in "top gun" and "lonesome dove", 
and i hope you will all see "grand champion", which barry directed. i had spoken with barry 
on the phone and via e-mail, but we hadn't met face-to-face until yesterday. after the event, 
we went into mexico and had dinner. mr. wayne's granddaughter anita and clyde of the royal 
mennard family were there as well, and they are lots of fun. i can't remember laughing so 
much! barry tubb is fairly reserved on the phone and in a public situation, but "mr. huge" 
is a wild man! i can't tell you how cool it was to come full circle with these friends. 
i am truly blessed.

the drive home this morning was awesome. the countryside in southwest texas is as close as 
people in this day and age could ever get to the old west. take away the pavement and the 
fences, and you're back in the time of roy bean. driving through the carta valley and 
listening to townes is downright inspiring.

one quick note: false alarm on the auslander beirgarten thang. looks like they will be 
continuing to have music. cool! look for me to play some more shows there in the new year!

god bless y'all, j

september 23, 2005

hey neighbors, hope this finds all of you well, especially my friends in louisiana and east
texas. you have all been in my prayers. 

been really busy lately, which is a good thing. played  a little bit with my ol' buddy 
tommy alverson last night in fritztown, which was cool. on the down side, i found out that 
my friends at the auslander beirgarten will not be having regular live music after october. 
my last show there will be october 21. i've been playing there once a month for almost three 
years and have enjoyed every minute. i'm going to miss those folks. my thanks to jeff and the 
entire staff at the auslander for a great ride! love you guys and wish you the best of luck. 

going into the studio on the 1st to cut some basic tracks and sort of take the studio for a 
test drive. who knows? could be the beginning of an album. looking forward to working with my 
buddy michael husted, the world's greatest bassist. october 5 & 6 you can catch me at tommy 
alverson's texas family gathering at tres rios park in glen rose. y'all come give me a hug! 
i could use one or fifty!

catch you on the flip, j

june 22, 2005
 
hey gang, it's been a very groovy couple of weeks. the night after the white elephant show, 
i played at the texas music nation celebration at tres rios in glen rose. i went to church 
camp in glen rose when i was a kid, so i went out there to look around. so many great 
memories. the show was outstanding. it was songwriter night, and i was running with some 
pretty big dogs. the stage, dressing room, and sound were superior, and the crowd was extra 
nice. after the show, the campsites were full of music and great folks. we jammed until 
almost daylight. the ft. worth gig was about seeing old friends, and the tmn celebration was 
about meeting new ones. two days i'll never forget.
 
last friday i played for the rock prairie house concert series. it was my first time to 
headline a house concert, and it was a wonderful time. the mood was festive, as it was the 
hostess's (i've never written a word with three s's in a row before. i don't even care if 
it's correct) birthday, and the crowd was awesome. the next day, i went to mexia and spent 
a day on the lake with some itasca folks that couldn't make the ft. worth show. so cool to 
see them again. spent father's day with my parents and ate enough bbq to last a year.
 
many thanks to the texas music nation, stan and lindy, mom and dad, and to rock prairie 
house concerts for a stellar time. 

adios, j

june 9, 2005
 
i'm sitting in a coffee house in glen rose, texas drinking a four-dollar latte and using what 
has to be one of the first computers ever made. i'm still buzzing from last night's show at 
the white elephant in fort worth. the energy in that place was off the scale. every player 
was at the top of his/her game, and it was an honor to be a part of this event. chris davies 
set the tone early with a great set. she has a lovely voice and some great songs. she sort of 
reminds me of nanci griffith, but better. i then played a quick set, followed by tommy alverson 
and his son, justin. these guys are both virtuoso guitarists, and together they burned it up. 
sam baker worked his way in and out of this mix with his tunes and backing vocals. before 
anyone could catch their breath, we all got up and had a weird and wonderful jam until the end 
of the evening. i got to see lots of old friends from itasca, including the little girl i used 
to walk to school with in the first grade. she's about six feet tall now! what a kick, to see 
all my old friends happy and healthy. if y'all are reading this, PLEASE stay in touch!

my thanks to all the players for including me in such a magic night. i am truly blessed 
to have such great friends. 

tonight, the texas music nation weekend in glen rose. good golly, i love my job!

i wish you peace, j

june 1, 2005

well, apologies all around. sorry the site went down for a few days. my brain cramped up 
on me and it took awhile to get any circulation back to it. 

also, i haven't written to y'all in some time, but that's a good thing (i hope). i've been 
enjoying a very prolific period and have written several new songs in the last couple of 
weeks. we'll get them up on the site as soon as we can, as all of the people in my vast 
corporate empire have been very busy holding my business together with spit and chewing gum.

speaking of business, looks as though i might have management in the very near future. 
i have been discussing this matter with a very smart and competent person who, in addition 
to having no idea what she is getting into, will be handling my bookings and other music-
related business. i'll know more by the middle of june.

for you friends in the dfw area, i will be in fort worth on june 8 and at the texas music 
nation bash at tres rios in glen rose on the 9th. check out the schedule and hope to see 
y'all there. 

vaya con dios, j

march 24, 2005

the fred eaglesmith show was such a blast! fred is cool as can be, and he put on a great show. 
opening for one of my heroes was such a great opportunity, and i can't say thanks enough to 
rock prairie house concerts and to all those in attendance. i hope to see you all again when 
i play there in june. 

i have lots of fun stuff coming up, so i hope y'all will check the site often and join me at
a show when you can.

later, j

february 10, 2005

well, sometimes in life one gets a second chance. last year i opened a show for one of my
heroes, the great fred eaglesmith, and what should have been one of my greatest gigs 
turned out to be an ignominious disaster. this time around, i'm working with professionals, 
which will make all the difference.  it's going to happen on monday, march the 7th at the 
rock prairie house concert series in college station. i'll be doing an interview with my 
pals at KEOS FM at 11 that morning as well. check my schedule for details and come out to 
the show. looks like it could be one of "those nights". a shout and many thanks to my little 
cult following in aggieland for making this one possible. love y'all out loud! 

see ya there, j

january 12, 2005

man, it feels weird to write 05 at the end of a date. of course, i'm a musician. therefore, 
i have no sense of time or date, so i made it twelve days before i had think about what day
it is. "but jay," you ask, "haven't you had to write a check in the new year?"  are you 
kidding? 

anyway, hope you all survived the holidays and that you and yours are happy and healthy to 
start a new year. this is usually a slow time for folks who do what i do where i do it. the 
tourist traffic slows to a crawl and business is scarce, so call me if it's time for you to 
throw that party (complete with live music, of course).
 
also, i'd like to invite y'all out to the "hug-in" at luckenbach feb. 11-12. you can camp on
the grounds, hear live music all day, play music all night, and see teri hendrix on saturday 
night in the dance hall. i never miss one, though i live close enough now that i don't 
usually camp out. i'll see y'all there! 

in the meantime, all my best and may god bless, j

september 13, 2004
 
well, a year has flown by since the last KEOS volunteer jam. it's coming up at fitzwilly's
in college station in a couple of weeks (see my schedule for info). aggieland is cool and, 
despite being full to the brim with aggies, it doesn't smell too bad! 

the folks at KEOS are doing radio the right way. they provide real news, community 
service and information, and great music that no commercial radio program director would
even consider. this event benefits the station so that they may continue to operate. the
lineup is so great, i feel like i'm in the kentucky derby riding mr. ed. i hope y'all will
come out and support this great radio station. 

see you there, j

july 22, 2004

Luckenbach, Texas -- some news from the center of the universe. on july 11, the guadalupe 
river took the life of our good friend ken schmidt. i bring this up because i learned a 
life lesson from schmidty. he lived life with an intensity unrivaled by anyone i've ever
known. he lived by the words "go strong or go home," and he brought it every
second of every day. we should always give it everything we've got, and it helps if you do
it with a smile, like ken schmidt.

the second wednesday of each month i'll be hosting a pro-level jam at luckenbach. we'll 
start at 7 and go till we drop. everyone is welcome to bring your acoustic instrument and 
jump in.

may God bless you all, j

june 1, 2004

played in austin every weekend in may and met lots of great new friends. i even met some old 
friends i didn't know i had. freddy and bianca, visiting from germany, bought my cd on the 
net about three years ago and learned from the website that i would be in austin at the time 
they would. they came out and stayed for the entire three-hour show, requesting songs and 
elevating the energy level. thanks to both of them for their support!

looks like the new cd may graduate from dreamworld to reality by this fall. let's hope so!

we're working on a killer lineup of players and shopping for a studio. keep your fingers 
(toes, arms, legs, eyes) crossed.

may the wind take your troubles away, j

april 27, 2004

hey friends and neighbors. got an e-mail from chris langer, the brilliant young man
who engineered "So Help Me".  he moved to minnesota with his lovely wife, 
and we haven't spoken in about three years. he now has a little girl and is enjoying 
daddyhood. we started talking about the next cd, which i can't wait to start recording. 
unfortunately, studios and musicians cost money. can you imagine the nerve of these 
people? we're thinking big, though, and we have faith that the fundage will show 
itself when the time is right. dreams are beautiful things, you know. they have no 
limits and one doesn't have to keep them within a budget. in the world of dreams, i'm 
one wealthy so-and-so. anyway, thanks for stopping by, and remember: you're only young 
once, but you can always be immature. 

peace, j

march 24, 2004

well, it only took three years, but the website is up.  there are still some wrinkles to
iron out, but we're open for business. my heartfelt thanks go out to all who contributed
material, ideas and old-fashioned elbow grease.

this section of the site will be dedicated to my rantings, ravings, random notes and 
experiences. i'll write about the road and the people i meet along the way, as well as the
shows themselves. there's not much telling what will travel from my brain to the keys, so
there won't be any rules or structure here. it's as close as i'll ever get to having a diary.
check in when you can and see what's new.

thank you for visiting jaysims.com. i hope you'll come back often and share your thoughts 
about music, life, or whatever pops into your mind. 

may god bless, j