This
bio is courtesy of Jimmy Henley Entertainment.
Jimmy
became interested in the banjo while watching his father,
James, give banjo lessons in the home. It all began one
evening when he came to his father in tears and asked
him how to play an old banjo tune called "Cripple
Creek." Rather than to spurn his request, his father
decided to sit him down and let him discover that he was
too little to play banjo. To his amazement, Jimmy was
playing the song in less than thirty minutes.
Jimmy started playing banjo at the age of seven with his
earliest "performance" in his first grade classroom
in Hobbs, NM, followed by his first professional show
for which he was paid twenty-five dollars. Jimmy's uncanny
ability brought him a great deal of publicity very quickly,
and this seven-year-old was in vast demand for private
parties and community functions. All of this led to state-wide
interest and many appearances on KBIM-TV in Roswell, NM.
At the age of ten, Jimmy won the World Bluegrass Banjo
Championship in Memphis, TN, after competing against sixty
contestants age fifty-seven and under. After this, Jimmy
got the attention of Roy Clark. Roy met the Henley family
at the New Mexico State Fair, where Jimmy performed for
the "Hee Haw" star. Roy immediately realized
that this was no ordinary cute little boy who could play
banjo a bit. This was truly a phenomenon! Shortly afterward,
Jimmy and his dad performed on "Hee Haw" for
the first time. He also performed as a guest on the Grand
Ole Opry. Roy Clark hired Jimmy and his dad, and they
worked as a feature act on the Roy Clark tour for twenty-six
years.
Jimmy has played with many other artists such as Marty
Stuart, Bill Monroe, Vince Gill, Lester Flatt, Glen Campbell
and more.
Here
is a list of Jimmy's awards and highlights of his career:
• National Bluegrass Banjo Championship (3 consecutive
years)
• World Bluegrass Banjo Championship
• Most Promising Banjo Player Award (awarded by
the Society for the Preservation of Bluegrass Music of
America)
• Appearances on "Hee Haw," "The
Mike Douglas Show," "The Merv Griffin Show,"
"Austin City Limits," "Grand Ole Opry Specials,"
"Country Christmas" (CBS Special in Lake Tahoe),
"Country Comes Home" (PBS Special), "The
Tonight Show" with Johnny Carson
• Two tours in Europe, including the Montreux Jazz
Festival in Montreux, Switzerland
• Tours in all the "lower 48" and Hawaii,
as well as Canada
• Las Vegas performances at the Frontier Hotel &
Casino, Desert Inn & Casino, Aladdin Hotel & Casino,
Flamingo Hotel & Casino, & the MGM Hotel &
Casino
• Harrah's at Lake Tahoe and Reno
• Moscow and St. Petersburg in Russia
• BBC Tapings in London, England
• Performed with the Bulgarian Symphony
• Jimmy was the subject of a Big Blue Marble documentary
on PBS.
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