"Born and raised in Nashville," is not a phrase too often associated with a country music artist, but is true of Jim McIllwain. Raised in Music City, USA, he was greatly influenced by the music that surrounded him and the musicians that seemed to be around every corner of his life. Playing football with Stonewall Jackson, Jr. and learning to pick with Larry Gatlin are just two of his childhood memories. Mr. McIllwain, Jim as we will call him, graduated from Woodbine Christian Academy, where he excelled in Gospel Music, winning many local awards and going on to the National competition where he won second place. As a teenager, he and his band played at various events in the Nashville area.

Upon marriage to his wife Pam and the birth of their two beautiful girls, the realities of manhood and the need for steady employment side tracked this budding star until recent years. In 1997, after an industrial accident injured his arm he moved his family to Manchester, NH, where they stayed with his wife Pam's parents. After singing in church and at his father-in-laws insistence, Jim entered the New Hampshire Country Music Association's annual competition. This time, there were no second place slots for Jim. He wowed the crowd and the judges with his version of "Keeper of the Stars" and his original composition, "One Night Stand Her."

He walked off with the Vocalist of the Year-1997-98 award and his song "One Night Stand Her."

With these successes behind him, Mr. McIllwain went on to win the National Country Music Organization's Vocalist of the Year Award-1998-1999. Jim has a new CD out called, "Country Thang." It’s a tasteful mix of love ballads and dance music containing five new original songs by Jim, four originals by Randy Albright, and one by a friend, Nick Scarpa. Jim's dream for his life is to appear on the Grand Ole Opry stage and to make his living writing and singing music. Until then, Jim and his family make their home in the Smokey Mountains, where he works a full time job days and, you guessed it, sings nights at various night spots.