Jim Green, formerly the Wandering Endorphin

This was the first shoot at our friends Gus’ house back in 2011. Jim Green, the Wandering Endorphin, dazzled us with his incredible finger picking and tapping guitar skills. Especially in regards to the tapping style, Jim may very well be considered as the finest that Chicago has to offer. For the Rooftop crew, we had heard of Jim before, but were completely blown away to witness the incredible performance up close and personal. Despite the unceasing accompaniment of the local Cicada tribe, the Wandering Endorphin did not fail to deliver a brilliant performance.

When the Moon Was Full of Mystery is Green’s latest release after being named “One of the best independent artists in the Midwest” by the editors of Billboard Magazine. He has chosen material he has composed over the last five years to makeup this new collection. “I put a lot of thought into what this CD should sound like and for every song to make the final cut it had to have a feel of mystery or wonder to it,” said Green. The nearly all instrumental CD is largely a solo acoustic guitar effort tastefully decorated with other light instrumentation such as piano and harmonica. There are also a few tracks that feature a new instrument for Green, the Native American Flute. His sound has been described as falling somewhere between the song writing of Neil Young and the acoustic guitar work of the late great Michael Hedges.

About Jim Green

Chicago native Jim Green is a Singer/Songwriter and solo acoustic guitarist. Not bound by the usual sonic possibilities of the acoustic guitar, Green creates enchanting finger-style arrangements to percussively driven solo guitar instrumentals in a fresh and compelling way. Deciding that the well-worn paths that other musicians adhere to were not the proper routes for his own creativity, he draws forth percussive rhythms, harmonics, and double pull-offs with a piano-like approach that often sounds like one more guitar than is actually playing. This is all done in real time with no sampling or looping devices to be found. The result is not only musical but visually stimulating.

Green’s driving perfectionism to his music has gained him the attention of the Editors at Billboard Magazine who named him “One of the best independent artists in the Midwest”. He has received  airplay on radio stations across the country, including National Public Radio (NPR) and Chicago’s very own 93WXRT Local Anesthetic. Songs can also be heard on several internet radio stations such as xsgritaradio.com. This particular station’s listeners voted Green’s song “Firefly” as one of the Best 100 songs of the year. As demand for Green’s live performance grows he now spends part of the year touring outside the US in such countries as New Zealand and Israel.