JIm Roll

Growing up amid the folk, blues, and early rock sounds of suburban Chicago, Jim Roll launched his career as a member of the Midwest rockers the Bald Willies, then relocated to Frankfurt, Germany, where he performed as a street musician. After enduring that period of hardship, he came back to the United States to refine his abilities on the folk club circuit. By October 1996 his introspective songwriting and occasionally eccentric stage presence had earned him a loyal audience, a recording deal, and the 1998 debut Ready to Hang. Following appearances at major American singer/songwriter festivals, he joined New West Records in 1999 and collaborated with Walter Salas-Humara of the Silos on the follow-up album Lunette. That release incorporated broader, more developed textures and drew strong critical acclaim. Roll subsequently moved to the Brooklyn-based Telegraph Company, which issued his third album, Inhabiting the Ball, in 2002. The record includes tracks co-written with authors Dennis Johnson (Jesus' Son) and Rick Moody (The Ice Storm) and earned widespread praise, including a placement among Amazon editors’ top ten rock releases of 2002.