According to Nanci Griffith, “Jim Rooney is the No. 1 reason I have a career,” “He gave me confidence in my writing, inspiration to write and handed me the want ads to look for an apartment in Nashville,”
Rooney’s elegant musicality has established him as a most vital player in Americana music. After playing a key role in the ’60s folk revival, Rooney managed the legendary venue Club 47–now known as Club Passim–in Cambridge, Mass., and lent his talents to the Newport Folk Festival, serving as both its director and talent coordinator.
Then, after handling tour and production management duties for both the Newport Jazz Festival and inaugural New Orleans Jazz Festival, Rooney moved to Woodstock, N.Y., in the early ’70s to manage Albert Grossman’s Bearsville Sound Studios.
As for his own music, Rooney–who splits his time between Nashville, Vermont and Ireland these days–has released a handful of solo records while producing artists such as Townes Van Zandt, country artist Hal Ketchum, Bonnie Raitt and more. He’s has also authored two books, Bossmen: Bill Monroe & Muddy Waters (DaCapo Press) and Baby Let Me Follow You Down: The Illustrated Story of the Cambridge Folk Years with Eric Von Schmidt (University of Massachusetts Press).