Inspired by the Hank Williams and Leadbelly recordings he heard as a
teenager growing up outside of Boston, Jim Rooney began a musical
journey that intersected with some of the biggest names in American
music including Bob Dylan, James Taylor, Bill Monroe, Muddy Waters, and
Alison Krauss. In It for the Long Run: A Musical Odyssey is Rooney's
kaleidoscopic first-hand account of more than five decades of success as
a performer, concert promoter, songwriter, music publisher, engineer,
and record producer.
As witness to and participant in over a half century of music history,
Rooney provides a sophisticated window into American vernacular music.
Following his stint as a "Hayloft Jamboree" hillbilly singer in the
mid-1950s, Rooney managed Cambridge's Club 47, a catalyst of the '60's
folk music boom. He soon moved to the Newport Folk Festival as talent
coordinator and director where he had a front row seat to Dylan "going
electric."
In the 1970s Rooney's odyssey continued in Nashville where he began
engineering and producing records. His work helped alternative country
music gain a foothold in Music City and culminated in Grammy nominations
for singer-songwriters John Prine, Iris Dement, and Nanci Griffith.
Later in his career he was a key link connecting Nashville to Ireland's
folk music scene.
Writing songs or writing his memoir, Jim Rooney is the consummate
storyteller. In It for the Long Run: A Musical Odyssey is his singular
chronicle from the heart of Americana.
