Jim Ocean

Jim Ocean was born in Stuttgart, Germany—an occupation brat taken to the wilds of North Dakota by a small-town air force father and a beautiful German mother. The restless family landed in Colorado and Oklahoma (where Jim developed a fascination with tornados and guitar) before settling down in time for Northern CA's ‘Summer of Love’. Jim began gigging around the Sonoma folk scene, appearing with Kate Wolf in his first concert during the mid 1970’s.

Through a series of misadventures, Jim spent a year steeping,in the East Coast’s prolific acoustic music scene. After saving enough gas money, Jim returned to the Bay Area and established an on-going music scene hosting original and traditional music that has been running in one form or another ever since.

As a songwriter and performer, Jim founded the darkly satirical group Celtic Elvis. The band was discovered by Christine Lavin releasing 3 recordings and touring the continent for over a decade. Jim briefly formed the Dogmatics that yielded a CD called “Fear and Love”, which was recorded in Nashville with the house band for the Grand ‘Ol Opry. In January 2010, Jim’s first solo album full of thought-provoking material, beautiful and haunting melodies, <a href="spotify:album:5IKfCzsmaz54tIRNi1JoQ1" data-name="Pop Tunes for Mystics">Pop Tunes for Mystics</a> was released on Wildplum Records.

Through all his years in the folk world, Jim yearned to be in a rock band. With his new <a href="spotify:album:4SNB6WaRGEJxlDNAZTQ3jB" data-name="Frankenclime">Frankenclime</a> project, the Jim Ocean Band brings the beating heart to the heady and eclectic compositions he is famous for.