Jim Olive

Jim Olive’s easy-going musical entertainment style has brought fun and enjoyment to a broad spectrum of audiences and venues, from campfires at cattle drives to concert halls in Japan, using familiar ballads, sing-alongs and bluegrass breakdowns. His performances are typified by a polished baritone voice and expert banjo and guitar picking.

Jim won first prize in the bluegrass banjo competition at the 1980 Kentucky State Fiddler’s convention and he toured Japan in 1993 as a soloist in The Best of the Bluegrass, a cultural exchange sponsored by Japan/America Society of Kentucky. Jim’s authentic renditions of old time songs with themes of mining, railroads, simpler times and agrarian life inherently reflect the solid values of his strong moral character and work ethic, which he gained from 25 years working throughout Kentucky as a professional forester.