Out of the smoky bars and neon lights of East Nashville comes the swinging Telecaster blues of guitar-slinger Jim Oblon. His new album Sunset, recorded with the legendary session drummer Jim Keltner and renowned GRAMMY-winning pianist/organist Larry Goldings, has musical roots that go deep into blues, R&B and classic country on a variety of ballads, vintage rock and standards. Oblon, always a believer in the bigger musical picture, aims to expound upon musical legacy without becoming an impersonation. “Today there’s a ‘blues scene’ with Brylcreem and bowling shirts, all the gear, but it doesn’t have the essence of music. I wanted to honor the people who came before me. Maybe I can add a few of my own things, but I want to not lose what was.”

A classically trained multi-instrumentalist from New England, Jim Oblon is now a local icon as the Tuesday night host/performer at East Nashville’s Foobar rock club when he isn’t on the road with Paul Simon as his touring guitarist. He gained national attention playing bass, drums and guitar on Paul Simon’s excellent So Beautiful or So What and his 2011 single, a Jim Morrison-esque recording of the traditional song “Where Did You Sleep Last Night,” which was used in the season finale of HBO’s hugely popular vampire drama True Blood.

“Unlike so many hot players onstage every Tuesday night in East Nashville, Jim Oblon understands restraint is as much the realm of passion as stinging notes that fall like shrapnel.” —Nashville Arts Magazine