Jim Campilongo

Jim Campilongo (born July 8, 1958) is a New York roots rock guitarist from San Francisco, known for recording a series of mostly instrumental albums. He is also known for being a member of The Little Willies with Norah Jones.

Campilongo primarily plays Fender Telecaster guitars. He employs a hybrid right-hand technique that involves the use of both a plectrum and his fingers. He holds a mandolin pick between his thumb and forefinger while plucking with his middle and fourth fingers.

He is a teacher and a contributing editor for Guitar Player magazine.

Campilongo was born in South San Francisco, California. When he was nine, he discovered the Beatles and Jimi Hendrix. He became interested in improvisation, saying in one interview, "I knew I liked improvisation and long musical journeys...so I used to buy albums based exclusively on how long the tracks were...That's how I discovered John Coltrane Live in Japan, John McLaughlin Devotion, a couple of different Cream albums."

Campilongo's career began in the mid-1970s. He studied guitar in San Francisco with Bunnie Gregoire, who taught him to embrace many genres of music, including the work of jazz guitarist George Van Eps and country singer John Denver. He used green stamps to buy his first guitar. During high school, he played with his friend and drummer Ken Owen, and when he was seventeen he began performing with local bands. One of Campilongo's biggest influences at the time was blues guitarist Roy Buchanan.

His recording career started in San Francisco in 1996 when he formed Jim Campilongo and the 10 Gallon Cats. After several years, he left the group and recorded Table for One in 1998.

In 2002, he moved to New York City and formed his Electric Trio, which toured Europe and Scandinavia and recorded the album American Hips for Blue Hen Records. In 2003, he formed the group The Little Willies with Norah Jones, Richard Julian, Lee Alexander, and Dan Rieser.

He has played with Al Anderson, Bright Eyes, Cake, J. J. Cale, Steve Cardenas, Burning Man, Chris Cheek, Nels Cline, Patrick Stewart, Charlie Hunter, Adam Levy, Sunny Ozell, David Rawlings, Peter Rowan, Teddy Thompson, Martha Wainwright, and Gillian Welch.

Campilongo released Orange in 2010. In 2011, "Awful Pretty, Pretty Awful" was nominated for Best Instrumental Song at the 10th Annual Independent Music Awards.

His album Dream Dictionary (2014) included Chris Morrissey (bass) and Josh Dion (drums). Other contributions came from Steve Cardenas, who played on two acoustic songs, and Norah Jones, who sang the album's only vocal on "Here I Am" by Ray Charles.

On Last Night, This Morning Campilongo joined the Honeyfingers with Luca Benedetti (guitar), Jonny Lam (pedal and lap steel guitar), Roy Williams (acoustic guitar, piano, organ), Dave Speranza (double bass) and Russ Meissner (drums). Vintage Guitar magazine called it "a brilliant record with magic and artistry".

In 2017 Campilongo produced Zephaniah Ohora with co-producer Luca Benedetti that All Music described "…just enough warmth and echo to suggest the softer records emanating from Bakersfield in the '60s and '70s, and that is precisely the right musical bed for OHora". In 2018 he released Jim Campilongo Trio- Live at Rockwood Music Hall with Chris Morrissey and Josh Dion. The album included guitarist Nels Cline. In 2018

For many years, Campilongo's primary guitar was a 1959 Telecaster. In 2010, the Fender Custom Shop introduced a limited-edition Campilongo Signature Fender Telecaster, and Campilongo has performed live and recorded with examples of his signature model as well. In 2018, he collaborated with luthier Chihoe Hahn to create the Hahn Campilongo Model C guitar, an electric guitar based on the Fender Telecaster.

• Jim Campilongo & the 10 Gallon Cats (Blue Hen, 1996)
• Loose (Blue Hen, 1997)
• Table for One (Blue Hen, 1998)
• Heavy (Blue Hen, 2000)
• Live at the Du Nord (Ethic, 2000)
• American Hips (Blue Hen, 2003)
• Heaven Is Creepy (Blue Hen, 2008)
• Orange (Blue Hen, 2009)
• Dream Dictionary (Blue Hen, 2014)
• Last Night, This Morning (Blue Hen, 2016)
• Live at Rockwood Music Hall NYC (Blue Hen, 2018)

With the Little Willies

• 2006 The Little Willies
• 2012 For the Good Times

As guest

With Mudville

• 2003 The Glory of Man Is Not in Vogue
• 2007 Iris Nova

With Stephen Yerkey

• 1995 Confidence, Man
• 2006 Metaneonatureboy

With others

• 1998 Prolonging the Magic, Cake
• 2004 Goodbye Cheater, Michael Shelley
• 2007 Upfront & Down Low, Teddy Thompson
• 2008 I Know You're Married But I've Got Feelings Too, Martha Wainwright
• 2007 Close to Dark, Brandi Shearer
• 2007 Pink Lady, Brandi Shearer
• 2010 ... Featuring Norah Jones, Norah Jones
• 2010 The World Will Be Different, Howard Fishman
• 2011 No Further Instructions, Howard Fishman
• 2012 A Good Country Mile, The Golden Palominos/Kevn Kinney
• 2016 Patrick Stewart's Cowboy Classic Sampler, Patrick Stewart
• 2016 Saddle Up, The Okee Dokee Brothers