Jim Ballard Skylyne Productions

13/11/2022

My great friend Nate Vaill is music producer and singer for The Merkins Youtube, lead singer and songwriter for A Band Named Ashes and founder, along with his brother Seth, of The Rialto Theatre in Kenmore’s Arts District.

15/09/2022

Paninoteca is open now in The Rialto Living Room serving paninis, soups, desserts, and drinks Weds & Thurs 11am - 4pm and Fri & Sat 11am - 3pm / 6 - 9pm.

Pictured here is the Roma panini made with ham, pepperoni, fresh mozzarella, fresh basil and house made San Marzano marinara sauce. Stop in for lunch and try one today!

29/07/2022

rock, indie, americana and singer/songwriter

04/07/2022

The place and time I was born was what we'd now call a 'poor' neighborhood. We didn't think of it that way then, nor do I now. Almost nobody had much in the way of money and possessions and property. But as it happened, we were also a melting pot for so so many different nationalities, colors, races, religions, all of whom brought their stories, their histories, their food and dance and music and art, language and traditions. When I was a kid, I thought EVERY place was like that, but as I grew up I realized we in our 'poor' neighborhood were unique. And I value that more and more as I get older. Instead of pushing back against 'the other' whomever he, she, they might be, I still want to hear their stories and songs, see their dance, taste their food. We're so much the better for it to have all of these things right here in front of us all the time, every generation... yet we push it away, reject it, act afraid of the difference. How monochronistic, how narrow, shallow and one way, how boring and "McDonalds" our lives would be without all those colors and differences... Anyway..... Here's a song.
Have a great national holiday, Americans. Peace~~~~

14/01/2022

Jan. 14
Day 140 Song 140
The Bells Of Saint Mary's
album: Quarantine Kitchen
Originally on the Ask John Steinbeck album in two versions, then on the live collection One Night, this was made during the early part of the lockdown in response to a request from 91.3 The Summit. Not being able to have a live 330 concert on March 30 that year, they asked artists to make and submit a song for the playlist. This was mine. It ended up kicking off the idea that became this Quarantine Kitchen album. The Strangs back me up on this, tho' it hadn't yet occurred to me to have them also video tape. Nevertheless, they're there....
THE BELLS OF SAINT MARY'S

13/01/2022

Jan. 13
Day 139 Song 139
Ask John Steinbeck
album: Quarantine Kitchen
Song 139 in my 'one song a day' project is the Quarantine Kitchen version of Ask John Steinbeck. For several weeks during the 2020 lockdown, I played solo versions of the songs, sent them to the other musicians, who then sent me their tracked parts to be edited together.
This is the title cut to the Ask John Steinbeck album from 2017, but stripped down to the 'coffeehouse version'.
So many of the songs on that album dealt with social justice and humans being humans. Thus the title of this song and of the album. This song is derived from the third chapter of Steinbeck's novel, The Grapes of Wrath. Who knows better than him?
ASK JOHN STEINBECK

20/04/2021

Live at the famed Rialto Theatre on the 330's BoulevARTS District in Kenmore, Jim and the Strangs play 14 originals in a live streamed set. In addition to music from all JB albums, three of the songs are new and previously unreleased.

30/03/2021

This MiniSet came about when I got to thinking how much throughout the years I've used water in the imagery, be it rain, lakes, oceans... So here are four songs, done mostly acoustically, a couple with guests, that have some reference to water. These are all acoustic "coffeehouse" versions.

You Can't Push The River
From the Wood And Wire album, this one tells a story of a family trying to get to the U.S. (across the water) mainly to escape gangs and druglords.
Strangs drummer Joe Lang sits in on this one.
https://jimballard1.bandcamp.com/album/wood-and-wire

It Oughta Be Rainin'
Did ya ever feel so low that you made it rain?
My pal Charlie Wiener duets this one with me along with
Strangs lead guitarist Wes McCraw on lap steel.
https://jimballard1.bandcamp.com/album/good-bones

Runnin' In The Rain
From the Thunderhead album.
https://jimballard1.bandcamp.com/album/thunderhead

Painter On The Shore
Also from the Thunderhead album.
https://jimballard1.bandcamp.com/album/thunderhead

Joe Lang: PayPal.me/redpearldrums
Wes McCraw: https://www.paypal.me/WesMcCraw
Charlie Wiener: PayPal... [email protected]

12/03/2021