Jim Ohlschmidt was
featured twice in Fingerstyle Guitar magazine in 2009 for his work
on “It’s The Wood,” a collection of original acoustic guitar music
produced by Pete Huttlinger. A native son of Sheboygan, Wisconsin,
Ohlschmidt first appeared in the Twin Cities in 1976 when he recorded his
first solo guitar LP, “Behind The Eye,” at Sound 80 studios. A friend of
Jim’s attending Macalester College took the finished album to Garrison
Keillor, who liked it enough to begin booking Ohlschmidt as a guest
instrumentalist on A Prairie Home Companion periodically from
1977-80.
Since then Jim has played
around the country and abroad, and has recorded seven solo CDs, including
“Not About Me” a collection of original songs written and recorded in
Birmingham, Alabama, and two CDs of songs by Mississippi John Hurt. Since
2005, Ohlschmidt has been a regular performer and emcee at the annual
summer music festival in Avalon, Mississippi that honors Hurt and his
music. Ohlschmidt’s faithful renditions of Mississippi John Hurt’s songs
have been featured on Dale Connelly’s Radio Heartland HD radio
program.
Ohlschmidt has also been a
regular free-lance contributor to national guitar magazines since 1979.
His name is especially familiar to readers of Acoustic Guitar
magazine, which for many years featured Ohlschmidt’s writings on such
major fingerstyle guitarists as Leo Kottke, Merle Travis, Charlie Byrd,
Earl Klugh, and Jerry Reed. Jim’s articles are also featured prominently
in Mister Guitar, a magazine dedicated to the life and music of
Chet Atkins.
In addition to recording
and performing his own music, Ohlschmidt has made five CDs with
singer/songwriter Mae Robertson, and plays electric guitar with the Star
Devils, a traditional rockabilly trio from Cincinnati that recently played
a three-week tour of England and Scotland. Jim performs locally with the
Boxcar Scholars at Dunn Brothers Coffee on Grand in St. Paul, and on
Saturday mornings at the Black Sheep Café in South St. Paul with Alternate
Route, an informal bluegrass band. Jim currently teaches fingerstyle
guitar at the Homestead Pickin’ Parlor in Richfield, MN, and also teaches
in the guitar program at Lakeland College, Sheboygan, Wisconsin.
Jim lives with his family
in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota.
Jim has posted a large
collection of videos on YouTube, both alone and with other groups. To see
those videos, go to Jim's YouTube channel:
