Description of Jim Lauderdale's Music:
Comparisons:
Recommended CDs by Jim Lauderdale:
- The Other Sessions (Dualtone, 2000) compare prices
- The Bluegrass Diaries (Yep Roc, 2007) compare prices
- Reason & Rhyme: Bluegrass Songs by Robert Hunter and Jim Lauderdale (Sugar Hill, 2011) compare prices
Purchase/Download Jim Lauderdale MP3s:
"Don't Tempt the Devil with Your Love" (from Reason and Rhyme)
"I Feel Like Singing Today" (with Ralph Stanley, from The Best in Bluegrass, Vol. 1)
Jim Lauderdale Biography:
When that program was completed, however, he moved to New York to pursue a career as a performer, and found his way to singing backup for a number of then-up-and-coming folk and country artists. Among them were stars like Dwight Yoakam and Carlene Carter. Building his network of connections and his resume in New York, Lauderdale began writing songs. Eventually, he moved to Nashville, where he became known for writing country hits for artists as variant as the Dixie Chicks, Patty Loveless, George Strait, and others.
In the 1990s, he began working on solo albums, finally pursuing the avenue of being a solo performer, down which he'd begun when he moved to New York. The recordings were quite well-received, earning Lauderdale a loyal following and a darling spot among country and Americana critics.
In 2002, he was recruited to act as the emcee at the first annual Americana Music Awards show in Nashville, Tenn. That same year, the Americana Music Association honored him with awards for Song of the Year and Artist of the Year. The following year, Lauderdale teamed up with Donna the Buffalo for an album titled Wait Til Spring.
Since then, Lauderdale has continued to host the Americana Music Association's Award show each year. He earned a Grammy Award in 2002 for Best Bluegrass Album, for a collaboration with Ralph Stanley titled Lost in the Lonesome Pines. Cementing his role as the Kevin Bacon of the bluegrass world, Lauderdale has also collaborated with Larry Campbell, Olabelle, and Grateful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter. He's toured with everyone from Hot Tuna to Elvis Costello, is a frequent host of Must City Roots - Nashville's Americana music show - and hosts his own radio show on WSM in Nashville (the home of the Grand Ole Opry), titled the Jim Lauderdale Show. Lauderdale has recorded a total of 20 albums since his solo debut in 1991 - Planet of Love. His 2011 bluegrass album Reason and Rhyme was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Bluegrass Album, alongside Alison Krauss & Union Station, Steve Martin & the Steep Canyon Rangers, Del McCoury Band, and Chris Thile & Michael Daves.
