Jim Campilongo
Roots rock guitarist and member of The Little Willies.
via Wikipedia: Jim Campilongo · see source
Jim Campilongo, a New York-based roots rock guitarist, is best recognized for his mostly instrumental albums and his role in The Little Willies alongside Norah Jones. He favors Fender Telecasters and uses a hybrid picking style, gripping a mandolin pick between his thumb and forefinger while plucking with his other fingers. Additionally, he pens Guitar Player magazine's "Vinyl Treasures" column each month.
Quick Facts
- Birthplace
- South San Francisco, California, U.S.
- Genre
- Pop
- rock
- country
- jazz
- Occupation
- Musician
- Instrument
- Guitar
- Years active
- 1990s–present
- Label
- Blue Hen
- Current member of
- The Little Willies
Facts from the source article.
Did You Know?
- He discovered John Coltrane Live in Japan and John McLaughlin Devotion by buying albums based on how long the tracks were.
- Campilongo's 2026 album Man In a Ball, in a Ball was recorded in Buenos Aires with Argentinean musicians.
Musical career
Campilongo was born in South San Francisco, California. At age nine, he discovered the Beatles and Jimi Hendrix, and became interested in improvisation, buying albums based on track length to explore long musical journeys. He studied guitar in San Francisco with Bunnie Gregoire, who encouraged him to embrace diverse genres including jazz guitarist George Van Eps and country singer John Denver. Campilongo used S&H Green Stamps to buy his first guitar, and was heavily influenced by blues guitarist Roy Buchanan.
In 1992, he formed the country group Van Riff with Tim Wagar, Gene Rifkin, and singer Van Riff. His recording career started in San Francisco in 1996 with Jim Campilongo and the 10 Gallon Cats, which won a Bammie for Outstanding Americana/Roots Artist. After four solo records and many performances, he moved to New York City in 2002 and formed the Electric Trio, which toured Europe and Scandinavia and released the album American Hips. In 2003, he formed The Little Willies with Norah Jones, Richard Julian, Lee Alexander, and Dan Rieser.
He has played with numerous artists including Al Anderson, Bright Eyes, Cake, J. J. Cale, Steve Cardenas, Burning Spear, Chris Cheek, Nels Cline, Patrick Stewart, Charlie Hunter, Adam Levy, Sunny Ozell, Peter Rowan, Teddy Thompson, Martha Wainwright, and Norah Jones. Campilongo released Orange in 2010, and in 2011 'Awful Pretty, Pretty Awful' was nominated for Best Instrumental Song at the 10th Annual Independent Music Awards. His 2014 album Dream Dictionary featured Chris Morrissey and Josh Dion, with contributions from Steve Cardenas and Norah Jones singing 'Here I Am'.
Instruments
Jim Campilongo relied on a 1959 Telecaster toploader as his main instrument for a long stretch. In 2010, Fender’s Custom Shop released a limited run of his signature Telecaster, which he has played both on stage and in recordings. He later teamed up with luthier Chihoe Hahn in 2018 to build the Hahn Campilongo Model C, a Telecaster-style electric. During 2023 and 2024, he worked with Buenos Aires-based Lumiere Guitars to develop the Jim Campilongo T Model, a Duosonic-inspired design featuring a Firebird humbucker at the neck and a gold anodized pickguard.
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