The History (Biography) of Jim Haynes

Although he claims to be from the outback town of Weelabarabak (“… it’s on the NSW/West Australian border and is an Aboriginal word meaning ‘hard place to find’) rumour has it that Jim Haynes is the son of British migrants who grew up reading Paterson and Lawson and was educated at Sydney Boys’ High School.

We do know that he began acting as a choirboy at the age of twelve in a Sydney production of ‘The Man Who came to Dinner’ and later, while at Teachers’ College, sang in a folk trio with the amazingly imaginative name of The College Three.

While teaching in country NSW, he formed the legendary Bandy Bill & Co Bush Band, which had some impressive hits. He also had a solo hit with Mow Ya Lawn, a song that led to that all-important first break in the music business.

Jim the Swimmer

Jim quit teaching to work in radio and went on to become an author, singer and comedian.

Over the course of his working life, Jim has been an author, songwriter, performer, recording artist, academic, sapphire dealer, nurse and teacher - often several of them at the same time.

"I guess I’ve experienced my fair share of life, and it has all given me some great material for my songs, stories and poems," Jim says. "I try to write about the funny, human side of normal life. My humour and satire are meant to be gentle, to make people laugh and feel good.”

In 1990 he started the first Bush Poetry Breakfasts at Tamworth’s during the annual festival. Against all predictions, they were an instant success and, in 1997, moved to the West Tamworth Leagues Club, becoming the phenomenally successful Big Bush Brekky Show, combining Jim’s unique mix of country music and humour with big name guests.

Jim Haynes’ real talent is his ability to cut through to the heart of our national spirit - he’s more than happy to take micky out of himself, but can also bring to life poignant moments or memories with which everyone can identify.

It's a skill he's honed over years of songwriting and singing, writing and performing verse and comedy and writing and compiling extremely successful collections of Australian stories and verse.

"I’ve been lucky to have a varied background and the chance to see a lot of Australia over the course of my life. That's helped me to understand what makes people tick, and write about it," he says.

Jim had ten years teaching on the Darling River and in the New England area before his thirst for knowledge led him to study in the UK. After two masters degrees and quite a few years living in Britain and Europe he threw in the academic life to return to Australia.

He was encouraged by John Williamson’s manager, Phil Matthews, who shared his passion for Aussie music and recognized his songwriting abilities. Phil gave him that all-important first break in the music business and from there Jim went on to write and record many songs, including hits like Since Cheryl Went Feral and Don't Call Wagga Wagga Wagga.

"I’ve always believed in planning any career," Haynes said, "I love what I do but I see this as a business, so I decided the way to go about it was to build a pyramid-like structure, with lots of levels - fall back positions, I suppose."

This is a philosophy Jim takes to the CMAA College of Country Music each year. He has been a tutor since the early days of the College and in recent years has been a regular member of the College staff and, as a board member of the CMAA for over ten years, has been part of the College Committee and helped revise the syllabus in 2005.

The Bush Poetry Breakfasts led to the release of Jim¹s first book, I’ll Have Chips! which was a huge seller, won him the inaugural Bush Laureate ‘Book of the Year’ award in Tamworth in 1996 and started a whole new phase of his career, this time as an author.

He’s since released twelve books of Australian short stories and verse, mostly for ABC Books, including An Australian Heritage of Verse and An Australian Treasury of Popular Verse, which won him his second and third Bush Laureate ‘Book of the Year’ awards.

Helen Dickie, National Party President and conference convener, once called him, “... the best genuine Australian Comic Entertainer we have.”

FACTS ABOUT JIM

• Jim has total sales of over 70,000 albums. Over 25,000 sales alone of the album ‘It’s Nothing Serious’.

• 'Since Cheryl Went Feral’ was No 1 on the Australian Country Airplay Charts for 5 weeks and spent 26 weeks on the charts. Jim has had 5 other top 5 hits on Country Charts Including 'Don't Call Wagga Wagga Wagga' and ‘I’ll Watch Anything’.

• He has won ‘Comedy Song of the Year’ at the Tamworth Festival 4 times and three Australian Bush Laureate awards for ‘Book of the Year’.

• Jim is the resident Australiana Humorist on Radio 2UE and appears regularly on TV and radio.

• A featured Artist at all the major Country Music Festivals around Australia, he hosted ‘The Slim Dusty Show’ on tour and has toured his own shows extensively since 1996.

• The author of twelve best selling books of stories and verse, Jim is currently writing three more.