As he began to listen to swing and jazz, he developed more interest in songwriting, especially the music from the American Songbook by Irving Berlin, Cole Porter and the Gershwins. Over the next several years, he played in various types of bands including folk, bluegrass, country and rock and roll.
He began by teaching himself songs by the Beatles, Bob Dylan and acoustic music of the late 60’s and early 70’s.
He started playing guitar at age 19 and immediately fell in love with the instrument. “Americana rock and roots” is the way Jimmy describes the music that he plays.