User:Beckywielgosz

Jimmy Heffernan
World renowned multi-instrumentalist musician, Jimmy Heffernan was born on January 12, 1953 in Bronx, New York. He lived in New York City until the age of seventeen. Attending Woodstock in high school, he has been quoted that "he bummed a smoke off of Jimi Hendrix." After high school he packed up and moved to Boston, Massachusetts to attend Boston College. As a teenager, he had begun his passion in music. His natural talents allowed him to teach himself how to play the guitar along with many other instruments. He has three children Ryan, Patrick, and Meghan. He currently resides in Southern New Jersey.

Career
For nearly thirty years Jimmy has been an active member of the professional music industry. In 1974 he started his career off with the Bluegrass band "Raintree" playing the Dobro® and banjo, which toured all over the east coast playing at festivals and clubs including the Philadelphia Folk Festival and the Lincoln Center. The following two years Jimmy played Dobro® for "Transatlantic Bluegrass", a popular French Bluegrass band that played as Bill Keith's backup band when he did his European tour. During this time they had a feature appearance on a PBS special called "Bill Monroe and Friends."

In 1980, Jimmy joined “Larry Sparks and the Lonesome Ramblers”, again as Dobro® player. He toured with Sparks for two years, and recorded two albums for "Rebel Records" and two more for "Old Homestead Records." Over the next six years, Jimmy played with Red Allen, Bill Grant, and Dehlia Bell and started to learn how to play the pedal steel guitar, as Jimmy has been quoted, "In bars, where it was meant to be played."

In 1988, a very monumental moment in his career, Jimmy played electric guitar for Doug Kershaw for a year, and then joined Joe Diffie’s band, which he played with for nine years. Touring major venues across the country, they also appeared as a members of the Grand Ole Opry. They performed on such shows as The Grand Ole Opry Live, Regis and Kathy Lee, The Tonight Show, Good Morning America, and Hee Haw just to name a few of the many featured. Joe Diffie sold over eight million records during this time. After nine years playing for Joe Diffie, Jimmy graciously left and stayed in Nashville where he had been living at the time. He spent his time producing albums and working with new artists.

In 1999 Jimmy joined Brad Paisley's band and toured with him for two years. He played Dobro® on Brad’s second ARISTA album, “Part Two”. On this platinum record he had an opportunity to play on a track called “Too Country”, which featured performances by George Jones, Buck Owens, and Bill Anderson. Another track he worked on with Brad called “Munster Rag", was nominated for a Grammy award for 'Best Country Instrumental in 2001.

Upon leaving Brad Paisley's band, Jimmy has been playing with Mark Cosgrove, "The Jerry Douglas Band" and producing records for new artists, including Michael Mason who’s song Cape Lonely reached #32 on the country charts, and Sony recording artist, Buddy Jewell, first winner of the popular television series, Nashville Star.

These days, Jimmy spends his time doing one of the things he loves, teaching up and coming artists. Jimmy’s been teaching at “Sore Fingers” in England in 2009 and 2010 and "Munich Banjo Camp" in Munich in 2010 and upcoming 2011. He has also been a staff member of Reso Summit for the past five years.

Artists Jimmy Has Worked With
Raintree, Larry Sparks, Red Allen, Mac Wiseman, Transatlantic Bluegrass, Doug Kershaw, Joe Diffie, Brad Paisley, Charlie Louvin, Keith Gattis, George Jones Buck Owens, Bill Grant, Dehlia Bell Jimmy Martin Sam Moore Marty Haggard The Allen Lilly Band

Jimmy is a highly respected Nashville session player, sideman, and producer. He is a versatile multi-instrumentalist, and one of the true masters of the resonator guitar.