The Jim Ocean Band
Music for the MetaQuizzical
Smart musical wanderings through the comedies and tragedies of the human experience. Nick Drake meets the Beatles meets Nietzsche pondering the merits and pitfalls of AI
JimOceanBand.com
“Jim Ocean consistently skewers modern life in the USA. The songs are smart, as well as clever, but avoid the novelty stance of going for cheap laughs. Instead, they get under the skin of contemporary facades and relationships. Music for our times.”
Not just a band, but a mission to have fun while illuminating life’s scary places!
With in-your-face energy, soulful harmonies and contagious hooks, the Jim Ocean Band uses humor, a driving rhythm section, and concerned, smart lyrics to shine compassionate light onto the issues of the moment. From “High on Stress” to “Road to Gridlock” to “Disruptive Technology” the Jim Ocean Band will have you laughing and dancing while reflecting on the challenges of the day.
Sample Track from the Frankenclime LP
FrankenClime
Streaming On
Not just a band, but a mission to have fun while shining light onto life’s scary places!
CD’s and Downloads for sale at WildPlum Recordings
Streaming On
“The Oceans’ music transcends category, transporting the audience through an entertaining and poignant range of emotions related to being human in the modern world.” – K Smith, Concert Producer
“Their songs pack an emotional wallop…”
Press Photos
Upcoming Events
There are no upcoming events at this time
“Party for the Planet” Benefit Concerts
with The Jim Ocean Band
The Jim Ocean Band is hitting the road with the “Fossil Fools Tour” in support of the Frankenclime project. The band welcomes collaboration and is available to produce benefit concerts for social justice and environmental organizations.
Why this music and why now? Because the Earth needs a good garage band!
More Specialty Projects
Jim Ocean Music
Thought-rockers Jim and Kathy Ocean use their lyric-driven original music to explore the world, spark curiosity, and inspire meaningful conversations. Their folk-rock sound takes listeners on a lively journey through the wonders and complexities of the human experience.
Live Performances
Featuring songs of science, satire and spirit, this program is a musical smorgasbord where the Ocean’s weave their trademark satire with their thoughtful ballads and their collection of “poetic science” songs.
Concert Production Services
As seasoned musicians and award-winning concert presenters with over 30 years experience, Jim and Kathy Ocean know the live music business from all sides. They are experts at organizing cost-effective, smooth-running, exceptional live music events.
Sassy Folk Rock for Complicated Times
Over the decades, Jim Ocean has written an impressive collection of thought-provoking, genre-bending songs that explore the nuances and quirks of the human animal.
In the 80’s and 90’s Jim recorded two albums (“The Rise and Fall of Practically Everything” and “Hard to be Real”) with his musical comedy band, Celtic Elvis, then toured the country shaking up the festival scene and breaking album sales records at many venerable folk houses along the way. In the 2000’s, he formed a folk trio called the Dogmatics that recorded “Fear and Love” in Nashville with the Grand Ole Opry House Band. Jim followed that up with a beautiful music-for-a-rainy-day solo project called “Pop Tunes for Mystics” before writing a body of work inspired by scientific discoveries. Along with his wife and musical partner, Kathy, he produced a mesmerizing multi-sensory program called “Astronaut Lullabies” that paired their original “space music” to a choreographed planetarium star show. Throughout the 2010’s, Jim and Kathy played music while rubbing shoulders with astronauts and NASA scientists including a collaboration with the Petaluma Museum where they produced a music/science café for the 12-week run of the Smithsonian BEYOND exhibit.
Much of Jim’s music career has been in the folk world, but from the time he was a small child playing In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida on a fishing pole in his mother’s kitchen, Jim yearned to be in a rock band. His wish has finally been granted. His new band brings the beating heart to the heady and eclectic compositions he is famous for, while providing a matrix for his unique approach to acoustic rock guitar to shine through. Jim’s younger self is grinning.
Backed by soulful harmonies and a tight, driving rhythm section, the Jim Ocean Band is coming out swinging with its debut album, “FrankenClime”. True to Jim’s roots of using the craft of songwriting to explore human nature, this album features concerned, smart lyrics set to a beat that underscores the impending climate crisis. The in-your-face energy and contagious hooks have audiences dancing, laughing, and thinking all at the same time.
The Jim Ocean Band is hitting the road with the “Fossil Fools Tour” in support of the FrankenClime project. They welcome collaborations and are available to produce benefit concerts for social justice and environmental organizations.
Why this music and why now? Because the Earth needs a good garage band!