Jim Wilson

Wilson's extensive background in keyboard-related technical work preceded his emergence as a recording artist. Born in Greenville, South Carolina, he moved with his family to Amarillo, Texas, at age six and grew up in that city. He took up the guitar at seven and was already writing songs by nine or ten. At fourteen he performed in bands that earned money, then switched to piano at nineteen and relocated to Los Angeles to attend piano-tuning school. There he also signed with a song publisher and began submitting material to television programs. His compositions appeared in the series Frank's Place during its 1987-1988 run, yet his widest industry recognition came from piano-tuning work that also involved developing a MIDI adaptor for acoustic piano and teaching its application to other musicians. Those activities brought him into contact with Burt Bacharach, Jackson Browne, Billy Joel, Elton John, Carole King, Paul McCartney, and Bruce Springsteen.

Wilson waited until 1997 to compose and record his first album, which he then shopped to record companies. After signing with EMI's Angel division, he released Northern Seascape in January 1999. The new age album mixed Wilson originals with a cover of the 1967 Left Banke hit "Walk Away Renee," featured guest appearances by Dan Fogelberg, Davey Johnstone of Elton John's band, and Dave Koz, and reached number 21 on Billboard's Top New Age Albums chart. He followed it in July 2001 with Cape of Good Hope on the Hillsboro label. That project included a cover of the Blind Faith classic "Can't Find My Way Home" and contributions from Fogelberg, Johnstone, and Chris Botti, climbing to number eight on the new age chart.

Wilson moved to Word Entertainment in 2002 and recorded the seasonal album My First Christmas with You. His next release, Quiet Shadows (also known as Playing Favorites), contained covers of pop hits such as "Wichita Lineman" and Elton John's "Your Song." He completed another album in 2004 and gave it the working title Sanctuary for a handful of promotional copies, though it never appeared commercially under that name. Artemis Nashville announced in June 2005 that it had signed him, and the label issued the album—retitled A Place in My Heart—the following August.