Jimmy grew up in Leitchfield, KY and started playing fiddle at age 8. Along with his Dad and many Great Fiddlers learned Old Time and Competition Fiddling. Jimmy was also a student of Jesse Haycraft, a violin instructor with the Grayson County Schools in Kentucky. Jimmy received 12 superior medals as a violinist. As a competition fiddler he won numerous state and regional fiddle championships. At age 18 he won the prestigious Grand Masters Fiddle Championship, which earned him his first appearance on the Grand Ole Opry as a guest of Roy Acuff. He has tourned with top Bluegrass acts such as Spectrum, as a band member with banjo great, Bela Fleck, The Osborne Brothers, and a member of The Grascals, a group he helped form. The group was a Rounder Records recording artist and two time Grammy Nominated Artist. They also were Awarded the International Bluegrass Music Association’s Entertainers of the Year, two years consecutively.
As a Country Music sideman and Recording Musician, Jimmy has enjoyed the privilege of touring with Garth Brooks as well as recording with him. He has also toured and recorded with the likes of the Forester Sisters, Steve Wariner, Kenny Rogers, Brooks and Dunn, Keith Urban, Rascal Flatts, Reba McEntire, and Dolly Parton where he was a part of touring and recording for a span of 10 years.
Jimmy still continues to work with Garth Brooks, Steve Wariner, Dolly Parton and many others as a recording and touring instrumentalist in Nashville. Jimmy is currently out on the Garth Brooks World Tour, working as a studio musician and working on production projects. He is married to his wife Ginger, and has 3 children, Ethan, Ansley and Emmy.