"One Life" Podcast — Music Makers and Soul Shakers Podcast

New Podcast Out Now: “One Life” Featuring Jim Byrnes

All of us here at Music Makers And Soul Shakers, Inc., a bustling mega-corporation here in Nashville (actually, it’s just me and my pup Ringo), are excited to bring you a new podcast called “One Life”. The concept is simple and unique; get one fascinating person (Jim Byrnes) to grab a drink, pull up a chair, and tell stories from their life while a group of musicians improvises at the same time, all listening and reacting to each other.

Jim is an incredible singer and actor from St. Louis, who has called Vancouver home for many years. As a youngster he was an alter boy at a Catholic church, but soon found a different calling, seeing Ike &Tina Turner at a local bowling alley, Albert King at a birthday party, and Chuck Berry was just a guy living down the block. After getting into music, Jim found himself drafted to the Vietnam war, and after a time there, keeping himself out of harm’s way by playing Johnny Cash songs to his platoon, he slipped across the border into Canada. Jim eventually made his way to BC, and in the early 70’s a tragic car accident took both of his legs. Overcoming this huge obstacle, Jim has managed to live an incredibly colourful life in Vancouver, and has become one of Canada’s best-loved singers, actors and personalities. He has recorded Juno Award-winning records, performed with Ray Charles, made movies in Paris and China, and held down recurring roles in wildly successful TV shows like Highlander and Wiseguy. I’ve worked with Jim on all of his albums over the last 15 years and we’ve become great friends and co-conspirators. I’ve come to know Jim as a great raconteur - he seems to literally remember everyone he meets, and his stories and history are nothing short of epic.

So we all set up shop at The Warehouse Studio in Vancouver and made this thing. The band consists of myself, Steve Dawson (guitars, pedal steel), Jeremy Holmes (bass, mandolin), Gary Craig (drums, percussion, juicing) and Chris Gestrin (keyboards). It was all recorded by Sheldon Zaharko, mixed by me, and our pal Doug Heselgrave helped out with some flow and editing ideas. You can listen to all 10 episodes now - please help to spread the word!