The Nell & Jim Band @ Harris Center

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Nell & Jim Band bring together genre-busting artists and joyful music infused with folk, bluegrass, americana, roots, swing, jazz, and blues. Alt-Roots, Folkbilly – whatever you call it – it’s original, well done, and a pleasure to hear. Featuring Nell Robinson on flute & vocals, Jim Nunally on guitar & vocals, Jim Kerwin on bass fiddle, Alex Aspinall on percussion, and Rob Reich on accordion & keyboards, this is truly an all-star band.

Nell Robinson has been described as a “modern day Patsy Cline” and “one of the freshest voices in roots music.” Her side-projects, from the poignancy of Soldier Stories to the whimsy of The Henriettas, further attest to the breadth and ambition of the youthful musical passions she let flower. Robinson’s 2014 release “The Rose of No-Man’s Land became a PBS Special with it’s own episode in the Music Gone Public series. The abum, produced by Joe Henry, featured Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, Kris Kristofferson, John Doe and Maxine Hong Kingston. “Music is the ultimate communication tool and Nell’s songs, performance and album moved the WoodSongs audience deeply! A fine person and a fine artist, ’nuff said.”- Michael Johnathon, Woodsongs Old-Time Radio Hour.

Jim Nunally is a San Francisco Bay Area-native, a musician, composer, record producer, and teacher. As a guitarist and vocalist with the David Grisman Bluegrass Experience for over 13 years, Jim joins master American guitarists Doc Watson and Tony Rice as one of the finest interpreters and performers of bluegrass and traditional music. He is a recipient of two Grammy and IBMA Awards and is a two-time Western Open Flatpicking Guitar champion. His work is featured on soundtracks for The Beverly Hillbillies Movie, Snoopy’s Reunion, The Sims, Streets of SimCity and more. His third-generation traditional music roots began in Arkansas with his guitar-playing grandfather who taught Jim’s father, who in turn taught Jim. This pedigree contributes to his unmistakably traditional sound.

Jim Kerwin is considered simply one of the best string bass players in the country. He has played with David Grisman for over 30 years and is featured on all of Grisman’s Jerry Garcia recordings, all of which boast a unique acoustic setting, encompassing a myriad of musical genres. A San Francisco State University graduate with a performance degree in solo double bass, he spent several years touring Europe with an avant-garde jazz trio led by vibist Larry Blackshere. He has performed with bluegrass greats Red Allen and Del McCoury and has played at Carnegie Hall with Stephane Grappelli and YoYo Ma. Kerwin is featured on numerous recordings – including six Grammy nominees – from big band and bluegrass to jazz and latin.

Alex Aspinall is a versatile, gifted drummer/percussionist who has been performing in the San Francisco Bay Area for 24 years. Alex has performed with a wide variety of musicians from around the world and enjoys learning the music of other cultures. He was most recently the drummer for Grammy winner Chris O’Connell and her band, The SmartAlecks. In 2018 he toured with Israeli musicians Amos Hoffman and Noam Lemish. He has also performed with Bobby Black, Blackie Farrell, Randy Vincent, and Steve Lucky & the Rumba Bums. Alex considers his greatest influences to be his teachers George Marsh and Walfredo De Los Reyes Sr.
Rob Reich
Rob Reich is quintessentially what makes the San Francisco music scene a vibrant and vital mecca for independent music; he’s become one of its stalwart underground artists. Reich starting studying piano at age three. After graduating with a degree in Music Composition from Oberlin Conservatory of Music, he moved to the Bay Area, where he discovered the accordion, now his primary instrument. He is best known for his work with Tin Hat, Gaucho, and Circus Bella.

Whippoorwill Arts is an arts production and performance company founded by Jim Nunally and Nell Robinson. Thus far, the projects include a revolving cast of musical and artistic friends and ideas, with the sole purpose of nurturing and expressing our creativity and the creativity of the folks we respect and love from the roots community. We believe in the power of collaboration and we have been inspired this year particularly to reach out to other organizations and artists to create together, including Deering Banjos for our new Banjo Boy Coffee, FreshGrass Foundation for our exciting new Artists Awards, Ashkenaz and several other art and music non-profits creating a new East Bay Arts Roundtable. A couple of years ago we were able to raise some funds and financial commitments to help fuel our activism, ideas, and partnerships. We have gotten tremendous joy from recommending grants and resources for the organizations and artists we believe in. This is a time for showing up, standing up, stepping into the fray, being clear and public about our values. We are integrating the many parts of our creative lives, from our own songwriting, performances and productions, to our philanthropy, activism and community-building projects.

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