About Jim Symonds

Born in '68, a lover of dogs and the back roads, Symonds embodies the art of descriptive, authentic story telling through his cutting-edge music -- the majority he describes as Vintage Country or Americana, with touch of Folk, shaped from his real-life experiences and musical influnences including The Beatles, Steely Dan, Elvis, Frank Sinatra, The Eagles, The Kinks, Lionel Hampton, Benny Goodman, B.B. King, Taj Mahal, Aerosmith, ZZ Top, Eric Clapton, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Allman Brothers, The Blues Brothers, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Pink Floyd, Randy Newman, and Johnny Cash to name just a few.

Fueled by a driving passion for vast sonic exploration, he also enjoys composing, arranging and producing instrumental orchestral and baroque classical pieces from time to time, including romantic waltzes, such as his sonata "Tea Time", which harkens back to the guilded age, and introspective works such as "Counterpoint", which has a Eastern European feel, written in support of our brothers and sisters in Ukraine.

There was a period when Steely Dan's Gaucho album remained in his car's cassette player for 5 years, and was played on nearly every trip, until the tape finally wore out. A bitter sweet moment of pride, accomplishment, joy (for the years given) and sadness (for the loss). Like gunsmoke pouring out of his heart. Alas, perhaps he'd heard it enough times by then anyway. It was never replaced.

Formative Years

Encouraged by his mother (also a songwriter with a home studio), Symonds began playing piano around age 10, got his first synthesizer (a Roland JX-3P) at age 15, and electric guitar (Vantage Les Paul Copy) soon after. His first experiences recording were in his teens with his mom's TEAC 4 track reel to reel in his bedroom with his synth. He was hooked. He honed his craft throughout the 80's and 90's with the digital gear of the day, including an ADAT, 16 channel Mackie mixer, Ensoniq ESQ-1 and SD-1 keywords, making singer-songwriter style songs as well as avant-garde instrumental electronic music, in his parent's basement.

In '96, he was forced to put music aside. In pursute of financial stability, he began a career as a budding entreprenuer on the internet. That journey was a difficult one, starting out with 5 years of 16 hour work days. In 2006, Symonds developed an affiliate platform (Automatic Web Software / DirectSalesMLM.com), that has since helped generate over a billion dollars for affiliates world wide.

Fast Forward

Today he is back in the studio, producing his best work yet, all while honing his skills on Harrison Mixbus (with condensor mics and a focusrite), which faithfully delivers that fat vintage analog sound we all know and love so well.

Crafting songs for over 40 years, Symonds main loves are his world class instruments -- a Zager ZAD-80CE cutaway acoustic guitar and Nord Grand, supported by an array of classic keywoards and the epic EastWest sound library, for breathtaking strings and choirs, etc.. He also plays the Merlin (a mountain dulcimer), banjo, ukelele, keys, electric guitar, bass and drums.

Authentic Recording & Good Times Vibes

You won't find autotune or trend chasing here. A self described recovering electronic musician (quantize free -- haha), Symonds now prefers real acoustic instruments with the real human touch, as much as possible, for authenticity. Simply because -- there ain't nothin' like the real thing, baby.

What you will find here -- songs from the heart -- party songs, driving songs, love songs, mom & dad songs, dog songs, pioneer days, whiskey outlaws, bigfoot, and reflective gooeyness throughout. Symonds prefers to write upbeat, positive, and uplifting songs, often challening the status-quo.

Symonds has been recognized as "best music producer" in the house by his wife and 2 dogs, for the last 3 years running. Neither his wife nor his dogs produce music, so it looks like he is a shoe-in for the year ahead, for the same category. His videos have had over 40 views on YouTube.

Homage to the man in black

Right turn Clyde! In a style nearly polar opposite of his usual uplifting forte, Symonds has also been channeling Johnny Cash lately. What?!? There's a deep conntection that he cannot deny.

Of his iconic, gritty songs on his upcoming album "Amercian Steel", including the all new original works "Amercian Steel", "Belt Buckle", "End of The Line", and "Room 211" Symonds says "I believe these are the kind of songs Johnny would be doing now, if here were still here today. In essense maybe he is in a sense, helping me through the ether?".

His album "American Steel", an innovative and heartfelt homage to the man in black, is in production now -- slated for release in 2024.

Yesterday's Gigs

Symonds' live performing experiences include playing keys and singing with Midnite Rider (a southern rock cover band) in SRO smokey bars (remember those?) in Portland's Old Port and throughout Southern Maine back in '91, and playing various venues as a solo singer-songwriter, with his acoustic guitar, or at a piano. But his main passion is and has always been writing and recording.

Chops Sharpening Experiences

Symonds has produced and engineered many songs, radio spots, children's audio books, and podcasts over the years, and they all require great attention to detail, and a keen ear. He has incredible patience and a willingness to do all the takes, edits and compilations necessary to get it just right, giving each element of each track the time, attention and love they need to reach their full potential.

His pride and joy of his children's productions is "The Legend of The Toothfairy" -- written by his mother, Joan Symonds. This was an epic 2 year production from '92-'94. Symonds auditioned and directed many actors, (who played various roles) and then painstakingly edited and cut all the final takes together, and wrote and performed an original orchestral underscore for the 15+ minute story, complete with custom designed sound effects throughout. He also performed / produced / engineered all the tracks on the album's b-side featuring 6 original songs (by various artists), all supporting the story.

Whatever the project, the goal is always the same -- to make some amazing ear candy.

Today's Quest - Working With You

Today Symonds is seeking out avenues for collaborations with brand partners, advertisers, sync opportunities, and aligning with ad execs, music supervisors and peers in the vast industry of music licensing, while at the same time creating a fan base to share his songs and swag directly -- all for the love of the music.

Need a music producer? Haunting Piano? Country Picker? A Johnny Cash style singer?