The original folk-rock trio that constituted "folksimile" back in the 1990s has re-formed! Tom, Dan and Jim all grew up with a love of music. The irony! on bass.
Not only that, but they all were born at a very young age to parents many years older than them. When Dan was three years old, his mother took him to a neighbor's house to visit. The neighbor had a home recording system that made small 78 RPM records. Dan stood on a table to sing into the old-fashioned microphone, and immediately became addicted to music, singing, and performing. While not chosen
as a contestant on the Ted Mack Amateur Hour or thankfully, the Gong Show, Dan's musical addiction addiction has followed him all his life. It led him through an interest in rock music (like so many other baby boomers), then country, and finally (in a search for music with lyrics) to folk and acoustic music. Dan says, “Today’s last bastion of intelligent music with real lyrics is being produced by singer-songwriters in the folk tradition”. Dan has performed at folk festivals and VFW clubs, bars and restaurants, in ballrooms and on street corners from Boston to Seattle, and points in between. He has studied songwriting with the likes of folk legends Steve Gillette, and Tom Paxton, and won awards for his own songwriting. Dan’s CD, "So Far, So Good," featuring the best of his original songs was released in early 1999. Dan is also featured on a CD called "Arkansas Original," an anthology of Arkansas artists. Dan’s most recent project was being one-third of the acoustic trio Happenstance. The group, playing mostly original music, toured extensively and released two CD’s while playing festivals, house concerts, and other venues. Jim's first instrument was the harmonica at age 8. An old German gentleman came to his elementary school in St. Petersburg, FL and asked if any kids wanted to learn to play the harmonica. Following his Prussian heritage, for the princely sum of $2.50, Jim purchased a Hohner Marine Band harp (key of C) and learned to play the harmonica by ear. At age 12, Jim began playing the guitar. He grew up listening to the music of the folk revival of the late 50s and early 60s, thanks to the LPs in his older brother's collection. Later Jim added banjo, mandolin, dobro, Irish bouzouki and button accordion to his arsenal. Thanks to the "British Invasion," Jim played in a series of rock and roll bands in his hometown of St. Petersburg, including "The Outlaws" and "The Great Society." After playing some folk venues in Gainesville, FL where he went to college and did a research gig at the U of Florida (Go Gators!), Jim moved to Little Rock and eventually was part of a bluegrass group "Bits & Pieces" that played festivals. For many years, he also played banjo in the Arkansas Country Dance Society Band that provided music for square and contra dances. Jim's CD entitled "Oblation" was released in 2001 and features both original songs as well as material from the public domain. He has provided instrumental tracks for several CD projects, including those of "The Boomers" and singer-songwriter Stephanie Fox. Jim is owner of "namaste' Sound Studio" where he is dedicated to helping groups and individuals capture their sound. "folksimile" grew from a duo that Jim & Dan began in 1989, playing at the original Little Rock Folk Club. Later, in 1991, they were joined by Tom who two years later took a hiatus and was replaced by Mike "Bo**er" Bracy. They then added drummer Rand Retzloff. Tom returned after his hiatus until the group dissolved in 1997. They disbanded while they were still friends! They are happy to be back together in their original trio configuration performing folk-rock, folk, singer-songwriter and original material.
