Jim Boyes

b. 14 November 1945, Bridlington, Yorkshire, England. Like so many others, taking his initial inspiration from his first hearing of Bob Dylan, singer and guitarist Jim Boyes’ early repertoire consisted entirely of the songs on Dylan’s first two albums. After growing up on farms in North Yorkshire, he was persuaded by his Methodist parents to pursue a career rather than merely continue his infatuation with rock ‘n’ roll, and he studied Material Sciences at Bradford University. However, he soon found a second home in Bradford’s Topic Folk club. Eventually he met Dave and Heather Brady at the nearby Bradshaw Tavern near Halifax, subsequently forming the highly successful Swan Arcade. While that group rose to prominence, with Boyes’ guitar and bass harmonies playing a pivotal role, he continued to earn his living teaching science at a Bradford school. He rejoined Swan Arcade in the mid-70s after Royston Wood took over his role within the group for a time. In the meantime, he had also worked in both Tup, who later evolved into Ramsbottom, and then ceilidh band Jiggery-Polkary. Swan Arcade re-formed again in 1984 to play a festival in Holland and Boyes has continued to be involved in sporadic reunions to this day. His first departure into songwriting came late in life. In 1988 he was playing at the Bracknell Festival when Swan Arcade were invited by Mike Waterson of the Watersons to perform a set together as Blue Murder. Together with Waterson he set about writing his first songs, and though Blue Murder never recorded, the resultant demos were passed to John Tams, in the process of establishing a songwriting co-operative, No Master’s Voice. The association resulted in Boyes’ debut album, Out The Blue, recorded with Nigel Jardine (drums), Rick Kemp (bass) and Sam Smith (guitar). Afterwards, he concentrated on establishing NMV as an outlet for new or unexposed talent alongside Tams, and also toured and recorded with Coope, Boyes & Simpson, a trio formed with colleagues from his early 70s group, Ramsbottom.