Jim started playing the trumpet in
the seventh grade due to a situation similar to Greg Dunn’s but reversed. His
dad was a fine tenor sax player, but Jim’s hand’s were not big enough to play
the instrument. Jim studied and played under Frank
Widenhouse in Belmont and played in a seven piece combo
during high school, coincidentally called The StarDusters! He attended UNC
Chapel Hill where he played with The Continentals and The University Concert
Band.
He married while in college and
transferred to the University of Georgia where he graduated with a BBA in
Marketing/Sales Management and then worked for Beltex Corporation in
Belmont and co-founded Fun Tees, Inc. and Gaston Screen Printing. He retired in
2003 after thirty five years as a textile executive.
After college, he did not play for
over ten years and started back by playing in church, for weddings and with The
Gaston Symphonic Band. The opportunity, however, to play with The StarDuster’s
big swing band for the past several years has fulfilled a lifelong dream.
Jim and Beverly live in Gastonia NC and have three grown children and three
grandchildren. Besides music, he loves golf, photography and
traveling.
