Welcome to my world...

Kentucky-based New York transplant Jim Gleason is a musical omnivore whose interests range from rock and blues to jazz and swing to country and bluegrass.  Those influences and more are plainly evident on his original solo recordings, including Sure, I'm Blue (2019),  Nervous World (2018), Last Fish Standing (2015) and Deconstruction Ahead (2012). He plays all guitars, bass, pedal and lap steel guitar, mandolin and percussion, as well as doing all the singing, writing the songs, designing the packaging, and handling the promotion. 

He recently copruduced, arranged and performed on Senior Moments  (2019 by college buddy Stan Beinstein,  and reunited with college bandmates to create the EP Blind on Blind  (2017) under the band name Hearing Eye Dog.

For the past 20 years, he has shared lead guitar duties in The Johnson Brothers Band, Kentucky’s “Original Rock ‘n Roll Repertory Orchestra.” He is also a member of The Sons of The Frigidaires and plays stunt guitar with his wife Missy’s band The Bats.

He has performed with members of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame (Elvis' drummer DJ Fontana), Country Music Hall of Fame (The Gatlin Brothers), International Bluegrass Music Association Hall of Fame (JD Crowe), Kentucky Music Hall of Fame (JP Pennington of Exile) and Major League Baseball Hall of Fame (Johnny Bench). 

He has been featured guitarist in theatrical productions of Hair, Jesus Christ Superstar, The Who’s Tommy, The Rocky Horror Show,  A Chorus Line, Quilters, and A… My Name is Still Alice, as well as performing at “Kentucky’s Country Music Capital,” the Renfro Valley Entertainment Center.

In addition, Gleason is a founding board member of the Lexington Area Music Alliance (LAMA), a member of the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP), and past member of the Americana Music Association.

In a parallel universe, Dr. Gleason is an Associate Professor of Public Relations at Eastern Kentucky University.