"An old farm foreman once told me it takes more than just sun, water and hard work to make a living out of farming.  You need to be god-awful stubborn and a little crazy too." - Jim Halfpenny

Jim Halfpenny's music is infused both by the rich, earthy textures of the soil he used to cultivate while driving tractor on the fertile farmland of rural Southern California where he grew up and by the deep, enduring limestone hills of Austin, Texas where he has transplanted himself.

In May of 2002, after living and playing music all his life in California, Jim left a successful film composing career in Los Angeles and moved to the Texas hill country just southwest of Austin.  He and his wife, Laurie, bought a home with some land and a year later they built a recording facility which they named, Back 40 Studios.  Immediately after settling in Jim began writing new songs and started playing solo gigs and open mics in and around Austin.  His writing style began to focus sharply and evolve into a mixture of modern "Texas music", rock, pop, jazz and the blues. 

In June of 2005 Jim met drummer, Brandon Storms, and the two became quick friends.  They began wood-shedding in the studio, working out arrangements for some of the songs Jim had been playing as a solo artist.  Four months later Jim and Brandon asked bassist, Mark Kellogg, a long-time friend of Jim's, to join the band.  The trio rehearsed hard and spent the next four months recording all the tracks for the first CD with Brandon playing all the drums and percussion, Mark playing both fretless and fretted guitars and Jim singing and playing all the six-string guitars as well as mandolin, harmonica, piano, and organ.  Alto and soprano saxes were inspiringly played by Austin session legend, John Mills.  Recording was finished in December of 2005 and the tracks were taken to Wire Recording in Austin where they were mixed by Stuart Sullivan, who has provided mixes for platinum award winning records. 

In February of 2006, in between the mixing and mastering sessions, the Jim Halfpenny Band added lead guitarist, Hunter Dryden and began playing a few low-key gigs outside of Austin to work on their live show.  On May 31 of 2006 Jim's debut CD entitled, First Things First, was released and the band began playing out in earnest.  Jovitas, The Saxon Pub, Flipnotics, The Hole In The Wall, Waterloo Icehouse, The Bugle Boy (in La Grange), Hanovers (in Pflugerville) and Genghis Cohen (in Los Angeles) have all had Jim's music bouncing off their walls.  By mid-summer of 2006 the CD had garnered a few impressive reviews in Austin area magazines and was starting to get airplay on Texas radio stations.  The first was KFAN in Fredericksburg, thanks to program director, Rick Star.   Laura Slavin at KPFT, in Houston was next when she premiered Severe Weather on her morning show.  Ken Murray, program director at KETX, in Brenham, spun Demolition Days and gave Jim a live telephone interview on the air.  Jimmy Roberts and John Roths at KEOS in College Station/Bryan began playing Paul Revere's for all those Aggies up there.  A big break came when Bryan Beck at KGSR radio, in Austin, debuted First Things First on August 22, 2006 on his popular morning show.  Bryan has remained a champion of Jim's music by continuing to play songs from the CD and repeatedly inviting Jim to play live on his program, both on location at Austin's Central Market as well as in the KGSR studios.  With the turning of the new year of 2008 some lineup changes were ushered in to the JHB.   Guitarist/vocalist , Mike Dorrien took over the lead guitarist position and added a new more aggressive edge to the band's sound as well as lending his distinctive vocal harmonies to the live show.

Currently, Jim continues to promote First Things First with live performances with the band, as a duo with Mike Dorrien, and as a solo artist.  In the spring of 2008 the band will  start working on their follow up CD to be released in summer of '08 and will begin an aggressive booking campaign in Austin, Central Texas and elsewhere.

For interviews, media kits, guest list spots, live on airs and more info, please contact Jim by Email.

For a more taste and less filling Jim Halfpenny "mini-bio lite" click HERE.