Jim Campilongo

Jim Campilongo commands a range of idioms that spans Western swing, country-rock, classic rock, and atmospheric jazz. From the mid-’90s onward he helped establish the 10 Gallon Cats, the Little Willies, his Electric Trio, and the Jim Campilongo Trio while also issuing a series of eclectic, largely instrumental solo recordings. The Americana collective the Little Willies, featuring vocals by Norah Jones and Richard Julian, gave him his first Billboard 200 appearance in 2005. Since the mid-2010s his trio, now centered on bassist Chris Morrissey and drummer Josh Dion, has shifted toward a rock-jazz blend after earlier Western-leaning endeavors. A contributing editor at Guitar Player Magazine, Campilongo is recognized for his longtime use of a 1959 Fender Telecaster and a hybrid picking approach.

Raised in San Francisco, he took up the guitar in the mid-’70s, purchasing his initial instrument with Green Stamps. An early instructor introduced him to diverse musical styles, yet exposure to Roy Buchanan ultimately persuaded him to pursue guitar as a profession. By the early ’90s he was both teaching students and performing across multiple groups and genres. In 1990 one student traded him a 1959 Telecaster for bass lessons; the instrument soon became his defining tool. “Playing that ’59 Tele changed everything for me. It was like it told me to get serious.”

Around 1993 Campilongo launched the 10 Gallon Cats alongside steel guitarist Joe Goldmark. Their 1996 debut album delivered instrumentals modeled on Speedy West and Jimmy Bryant, and the band ultimately issued three recordings. His own first solo effort, Table for One, arrived in 1998 and earned strong critical notice. After documenting Live at the Du Nord in 2000, he relocated from San Francisco to New York City two years later.

In New York he assembled the Electric Trio, enlisting bassist Tim Luntzel and drummer Dan Rieser, and simultaneously formed the Little Willies with Norah Jones; that lineup also included Rieser, folk singer Richard Julian, and bassist Lee Alexander. The Jim Campilongo Electric Trio’s 2003 release American Hips featured Jones on two tracks. Beginning in 2005 the trio held a weekly Monday residency at New York’s Living Room, where guests such as Charlie Hunter, Norah Jones, Martha Wainwright, and Nels Cline appeared onstage with them. That same year the Little Willies released their self-titled debut album, which entered the Billboard 200 Top 50.

Heaven Is Creepy followed from the Electric Trio in 2006. In 2008 Campilongo issued the holiday collection Almost Christmas, enlisting pedal steel guitarist Bobby Black and vocalist Brandi Shearer among others. Two years later he delivered the solo album Orange, his broadest statement to date, produced by Anton Fier, whose revived Golden Palominos had previously included Campilongo. Also in 2010 Fender’s custom shop introduced a signature Telecaster bearing his name.

The Little Willies returned in 2012 with For the Good Times, which again reached the Billboard 200 Top 50 and peaked at number 45. Early in 2014 Campilongo unveiled Dream Dictionary, recorded with his refreshed trio of bassist Chris Morrissey (Mark Guiliana Jazz Quartet, Sarah Bareilles) and drummer Josh Dion (Bill Evans, paris_monster). The same personnel reconvened for the Jim Campilongo Trio’s Live at Rockwood Music Hall NYC in 2017, on which Nels Cline guested on two selections. Another signature instrument, the Hahn Campilongo Model C, appeared in 2018.