James Hand

James "Slim" Hand (born 1952) is an American country music singer and songwriter.

James Edward Hand Jr. was born in Waco, Texas, United States. He took to guitar playing and singing while approximately twelve years old. He worked in various jobs in his life, including horse training and driving a truck.

As a teenager, Hand joined a small band and began performing in honky-tonks and roadhouses across the state of Texas. At some point he started to write and perform his own songs. After years of continuous traveling and live performances, he released his first album in 1999, when he was 47 years old.

In 2014, Hand played a fictional version of himself in the independent film Thank You a Lot. The Austin Film Society's website noted that Hand and co-protagonist Blake DeLong, playing his son, had a chemistry that was "hilariously realistic".

Reviewers have generally emphasized the "authenticity" of Hand's song. His music reportedly can match the "rigor" of historical performers of country music, "with the slightest touch of outlaw bluster," while his voice can be "uncertain in moments." On the release of his first album, one reviewer wrote that Hand "sings the songs as if he has lived every minute of them," while The Washington Post's reviewer called him "the real deal," a view shared also by Willie Nelson.

About his work with animals: “People act like it’s some big deal, like this whole horse whispering thing. But I’ll tell you something – you can whisper to ’em, you can get down on your knees and act like ’em, but the horse knows you ain't a horse."

• Shadows Where the Magic Was, on Crystal Clear Sound (1999)
• Evil Things, on Cold Spring Records (2000)
• The Truth Will Set You Free, on Rounder Select (2006)
• Shadow on the Ground, on Rounder Select (2009)
• Mighty Lonesome Man, on Slim Hand Music (2012)
• Stormclouds in Heaven, on Slim Hand Music (2015)