Jim Mills

Bluegrass musician Jim Mills – born in Raleigh, North Carolina on December 18, 1966- was best known as an accomplished banjo player who played with Ricky Skaggs and his band Kentucky Thunder for 14 years. Jim Mills began teaching himself to play the banjo at the age of 12. Although his grandfather and father were both banjo players, Jim Mills was mostly inspired by Earl Scruggs, and he eventually adapted Scruggs’ classic three-finger style of playing. While learning to play he instrument, he also became interested in pre-war Gibson banjos and became an expert on the instrument. Initially, he played with Summer Wages in the late 1980s before joining Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver, appearing on albums such as I Heard the Angels Singing (1989) and Treasures Money Can’t Buy (1992). He recorded with The Bass Mountain Boys and Jim Price before joining Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder. Over the next 14 years, he appeared on numerous albums by Skaggs including Soldier of the Cross (1999), History of the Future (2001), Instrumentals (2006), and Honoring the Fathers of Bluegrass: Tribute to 1946 & 1947 (2008). During this time, he also recorded with Dolly Parton, Bobby Osborne, Bruce Hornsby, Earl Scruggs and Doc Watson. During this period, Jim Mills earned five Grammy Awards while in Skaggs’ band and was voted Banjo Player of the Year six times at the IBMA Bluegrass Music Awards (1999-2001, 2003, 2005, and 2006). He also released three acclaimed solo albums: Bound to Ride (1998), My Dixie Home (2002), and Hide Head Blues (2005). Jim Mills died of a heart attack at the age of 57 on May 3, 2024.

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