Biography

The winds of change have blown a strong voice to the American folk scene…a Pacific Nor‘wester in the form of singer songwriter Jim Hinde, bringing his powerful repertoire of Hinde-Sight . . . songs and stories of pride, passion, and lessons learned on roads less traveled . . . and though he may employ humor and wit to veil it, the “scars of wisdom” authenticate his words.

Jim’s road map reads like a lifetime wade in the primordial pool of which contemporary folk songs are born . . . Midwestern small town upbringing, sixties coffeehouses, Vietnam, freight trains, hopes dashed and realized, loves lost and gained, family, blue collar, white collar, no collar, search, struggle, survival, and accomplishment.

His professional resume is quite respectable. Jim has been a staple at Seattle’s Pike Place Market since 1989, where he narrated, wrote, and received a Northwest Regional Emmy Award for the PBS documentary Pike Place Market—Soul of a City, toured nationally, performed on the ABC Evening News, WNBC New York, appeared in several episodes of Northern Exposure; and has video, soundtrack, discography, and major folk festival stage credits too numerous to list. With pride and humility he adds, "my greatest accomplishments are husband, father, and social activist."

"This is the real thing." (Jim Page, Victory Review)

"Jim Hinde is a songwriter for the 21st century, ready to help us all pay attention to the subtle, changing weirdness of modern life. I’m a fan; you will be, too." (Richard Dorsett, Victory Review)

"Jim’s a big man, with a big beard and a big voice . . . of an ilk I don’t hear enough of anymore. Even when it’s light and fun, Hinde’s is music of conscience." (Thomas Shapley, Seattle Post-Intelligencer)

"Known as a man who speaks his mind, Hinde possesses a sharp, opinionated wit and the guts to vocalize it. With songs of train journeys, truths learned and a country called America, Hinde expresses always an underlying optimism even when protesting the status quo . . . delivered in a voice that’s somehow inherently gentle . . . a good dad’s voice." (Joanne DePue, Pike Place Market News)

Preferring to play guitar and sing songs to tooting his own horn, Hinde simply characterizes his work as "real folk for real folk . . . not too bitter, not too sweet." When not performing solo, Jim has been honored to assume the stage with the likes of American folksinger songwriter Jim Page, world harmonica champion Jim McLaughlin, legendary Scottish fiddler the late Johnny Cunningham, and stellar musicians from coast to coast including Scott Law, Orville Johnson, Fly Amero, and Dave Brown. In 2003, Jim shared a Salt Lake City, Utah event with none other than Glen Campbell.

In a 1974 Newsweek article, Hinde was quoted as saying, "I’m just going to keep going until I find out where I want to be." That quest has privileged him to the corners and the crossroads of this country . . . to the very heartbeat of the American spirit . . . where Jim takes the pulse and returns it through story and song . . . and humbly he adds, "that’s a pretty cool place to be."