Jim Condie

Although he first picked up a guitar at the age of 14, Glasgo musician Jim Condie thought his big break had come when, in 1981, two weeks after his 30th birthday, he got a gig backing Lena Zavaroni. Flushed with success, Jim immediately stepped into a duo with Edinburgh legend Tam White, who Alexis Korner rated as "the greatest undiscovered Blues talent of our time". Between them, they built up a ten-piece Rhythm 'n' Blues band, The Dexters, which, with its blend of raw-edged Blues and sophisticated Ray Charles inspired jazz/ R'n'B, took Scotland and the North by storm. . In their time, they recorded two albums and made countless BBC radio and TV broadcasts.

When The Dexters finally ground to a halt in 1987, during the next four years Jim worked with, among others, Van Morrison, Ali Farka Touré, Charlie Musselwhite, Tracy Nelson, Lowell Fulson, Louisiana Red, Jo Ann Kelly, Carey Bell, Johnny Mars, and Phil Guy.

Also at this time, he became composer David MacNiven's first choice on guitar and lap steel on most of the soundtracks to come out the BBC Glasgow's comedy unit. You could hear his distinctive sound on "Rab C Nesbitt", "Naked Video", "City Lights", "Only The Lonely", etc., and for ITV.John Byrne's 'Your Cheatin' Heart', where his lap steel is in evidence - Jim was also John Gordon Sinclair's guitar coach on this!

In1989, Jim formed The Rootsies Duo with blues singer/ harp-player Ron Tait, a brilliant but self-destructive Paul Rodgers soundalike. After a couple of years they became the busiest and most popular blues act in town - in 1992 performing over 280 gigs! They recorded two albums, and opened for some of the biggest names in the blues, before Ron's love of "the juice of the barley & hops" took over.

In August 2001, Jim joined the legendary Amos Garrett on tour. For this, he formed a band consisting of Ted McKenna (ex Alex Harvey and Rory Gallagher) on drums, Alan Thomson (John Martyn and The Hellecasters) on bass and Jim on slide/ rhythm guitars. Amos was so knocked out by the band and by the response he attained that recorded his next CD in the UK with the band.

In 2002, Jim started promoting his solo career and his new CD 'Distant Cousins' . He's also currently in discussions with Ted McKenna and others about the possibility of forming a local Glasgow band with an international reputation. Ted did this before with considerable success when he formed The Party Boys out of the remnants of the Alex Harvey Band with Dan McCafferty from Nazareth.

A list of some of the performers for whom Jim has worked: Van Morrison; Charlie Musselwhite; Ali Farka Toure; Jack Bruce; Lulu; Elaine C Smith; Tracy Nelson; Sam Brown; Amos Garrett; Sugar Blue; The Soup Dragons; John Gordon Sinclair; Lowell Fulson; Louisiana Red; Jo Ann Kelly; Carey Bell; Lurie Bell; Buffy Sainte Marie; Otis Spann; Arthur 'Big Boy' Crudup; Larry Johnson; Michael Jerome Browne; Johnny Mars; Phil Guy; Terry Neason; Mose Scarlett; Penny Lang; Tim Harrison; Tim Williams; Tom Ovans; Ken Hamm; Lena Zavaroni; Ron Tait; Maggie Reilly; Rab Noakes; Michael Marra; Jackson Delta; Washboard Hank Fisher (from Fred J. Eaglesmith's band); Buzz Thomson (from Ronnie Hawkins & The Hawks); Tam White; Colin Chisholm (from Bilbo Baggins); Elaine Simmons (The Singer Of The Song); Roseanne Erskine; Curtis Johnson

Bands he has worked with have included among their personnel: Boz Burrell (from Bad Company); Davie Paton (from Pilot, Elton John Band); Ted McKenna (from SAHB, Rory Gallagher); Alan Thomson (from John Martyn, Rick Wakeman); Peter Vettese (from Jethro Tull, Cher, Bee Gees); Foss Paterson (from John Martyn Band); Mike Travis (from Solaris, Gilgamesh); Brian Kellock (BBC Jazz Musician of the Year 2002); Alan Darby (from Robert Palmer & Eric Clapton's bands); Neil Drinkwater and June Boyce (from Van Morrison 's band ) 4